


Little Things

by ForNought



Category: Free!
Genre: Basically, Multi, basically everyone else is an OC, gay bar au, i actually did try okay and i am a little bit sorry, i tried to be ass fluffy as possible, just little vignettes, set like a couple of years after the end of eternal summer, some very platonic but not at all heterosexual broing down, there will be some cameos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-21
Updated: 2015-07-05
Packaged: 2018-03-18 23:01:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 30
Words: 21,854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3587298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ForNought/pseuds/ForNought
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sousuke had intended to follow-up on Rin's request, to see if he really could heal his shoulder and swim with him once again. He got as far as Shinjuku, Tokyo when all the plans he had been putting into place crumbled around him and left him penniless, homeless and hopeless. Enter the manager of a cozy bar who gives him a job where he runs into an old friend to help him through it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> For a while I have been thinking about Onee Kotoba and what it would be like if Sousuke spoke in Onee Kotoba. Obviously it wouldn't work in English, but I just wanted to pretend it did work so maybe whilst trying to keep a promise or two to Rin, Sousuke ended up in Ni-Choume and accidentally bumped into Kisumi while he was there and they sort of ended up joined at the hip. (Because I also wanted an excuse to try writing some QP sort of stuff). So basically very self-indulgent stuff but if someone thought it was problematic I would like to know so I could change it or something.

"Try not to get too offended," Kisumi began, well aware of the fact that Sousuke liked to pretend a great many things Kisumi said offended him, "but do you actually like men?"

Sousuke shrugged, leaned more heavily on the bar between them and tilted his chin on the loose fist it was resting on.

"What do you mean?"

Sousuke did not so much as flinch at the laugh that startled out of Kisumi but Kisumi felt the back of his neck grow warm nonetheless. He knew people thought of him as frivolous and vulgar but even he drew the line with his own indiscretion. He lowered his voice and dipped his head closer to Sousuke's as he elaborated.

"You are in quite a unique line of work and, well excuse me for being forward about this, you seem to have an even less conventional side job. I was wondering whether you enjoy it or if you ended up doing _those_  things for _those_  sorts of people by accident."

"Those sorts of people? People like you, you mean?"

"I absolutely do not mean people like me," Kisumi grumbled against the heat that had risen to his cheeks.

"You are the one who came here for fun. I simply work here."

"I am not here for fun, I am here to talk to you. Besides I don't mean people like me at all because unlike them I am not a miserable pervert."

"Hmm," Sousuke's eyes drifted past Kisumi and he straightened his posture. "You could have fooled me, what was your name again? Fukumi?"


	2. Lazy Baby

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Work-out Sunday

Kisumi puffed at the loose strands ticking his eyebrow before looking sternly down at Sousuke.

  
"Eight more sit-ups, surely you can manage that many."

  
Sousuke huffed, face flushed and glossed with his exertion. If Kisumi was being honest, Sousuke probably could not manage that many. But they had  already missed three of their sessions that week and Kisumi  had been in the mood to sweat off the tiny frustrations that had built up enough to make him think throwing a tray of drinks at a customer was a good idea.

  
"Don't be a lazy baby."

  
"I doubt the reason babies don't do sit-ups is because they are lazy." 

  


Kisumi rolled his eyes and pressed his hands more firmly onto Sousuke's feet. 

  


"Eight more and then you do me." 

  


Sousuke snorted. 

  


"You can take that however you want to," Kisumi added silkily.

  


Sousuke stopped laughing at that.


	3. Marriage

"Do you think you will ever get married?"

Kisumi might have drunk too much but Sousuke was not responsible enough to cut him off at this point. He liked it when Kisumi mellowed and pondered things too deeply to grin up at him deviously and lick his lips enticingly. Well, a sober Kisumi thought that was enticing. It was simply another irritation for Sousuke who, for now, was glad of the excuse to be at the safe end of the bar.

If Sousuke stopped plying Kisumi with drinks and half an ear for conversation he would have to venture to the other end of the bar and serve a man who bore the look of Shinohara-san and his friends. Shinohara-san was good for business but Sousuke did not have the patience to have to simper and flirt with another sad old man who would fart and wheeze his way through foreplay. At least like this, with Kisumi, he could pretend things had remained much as they were. Old school friends who had by some serendipitous circumstances managed to reconnect in the loneliness of Tokyo.

Sousuke sighed. He was almost certain that Shinohara-san had a lot of married friends. Contracts and vows did nothing to keep them faithful and happy. If that was what marriage amounted to, Sousuke did not see the point.

"Probably not."

Kisumi bit his lip and his eyebrows scrunched together as he peered up at Sousuke. "That is so sad."

"It doesn't look like you will get married either."

"Yes but at least Midori-chan and I do want to get married. We can live together as husband and wife until death do us part. The law bit doesn't matter to me."

Sousuke arched an eyebrow and following a curious look from the Mama slowly swiped the cloth tucked into his apron across the bar. "Right. The law bit doesn't matter at all until one of you gets hurt or you want to provide details of a next of kin or one of you dies and the other gets nothing… you are totally right. The law bit is irrelevant."

"Shut up, Sousuke. When you say it like that the law is important but what are we supposed to do when the law doesn't take Midori-chan into consideration?"

"Find a new wife."

"Do you really hate Midori-chan that much? To say something like that about her?"

Sousuke shrugged. He didn't dislike Midori per se but they were people who were never going to see eye to eye.

"Why won't you get married anyway if your precious law means so much to you?"

"Because I doubt I will meet anybody I can be bothered to tether to me with that precious law."

"What, don't you believe in love?"

"I'm sure plenty of people do just fine with love, I have other things to focus on," Sousuke mumbled with another shrug.

"Ah. Extramarital love. How could I forget."

"If you value your life I suggest shutting the fuck up."

Kisumi raised his eyebrows, suddenly a lot closer to sobriety than Sousuke had assumed, before glancing pointedly in the dim end of the bar. Over that end there were hardly any customers and Sousuke took a calming breath to remind himself that Kisumi was still only taking guesses about what was actually going on.

"I think I will keep talking. This might be one of the few times when the law would be on my side."

Sousuke allowed himself a moment of immaturity. He shoved the bar rag in Kisumi's face, relishing the indignant squawking until the manager came to rest a heavy hand on Sousuke's shoulder.

"Sou-chan, is something the matter?"

"Not at all, Mama. I appear to have lost control on my rag for just a moment."

"Well that won't do. I hope you will provide our esteemed customer with the appropriate apology and recompense."

"Of course, Mama. It shan't happen again."

"Be sure that it doesn't, Sou-chan," the Mama said sternly. Sousuke felt the gaze on his back long after the Mama's high heels had stopped clipping on the polished floor behind the bar. He could tell when a safe amount of time had passed though. Kisumi struggled to keep his drink from spraying out of his nose and Sousuke flicked him in the forehead.

"I will never get used to hearing you speak like that, Sou-chan. So cute!"

"I hope one day I get to show you how much I hate you."

Kisumi nodded, wide eyed and far too innocent to be genuine. "I hope so too, Sou-chan!"


	4. Late Summer Bloom

Kisumi in a dress was a rare sight. Not so rare that Sousuke was surprised by it and also not so rare that Sousuke could say there had been sufficient time since the last dress. This one was a summer dress that must have taken some courage to wear considering the floatiness of the dress and the evening chill that Sousuke had experienced only ten minutes previously.

As ordinary and exhausted as Kisumi looked in the summer dress, Sousuke could not bring himself to ask whether his new customer was feeling the cold. The dress was a sign of something else altogether.

"Are you meeting her here?"

Kisumi looked far too closely at Sousuke and rather than provide an answer he snarled. "Is there lipstick on my teeth?"

"Seriously, if she comes here I may not be responsible for my actions."

"I had to rush from work to get changed. It is freezing out there but this was the only clean dress I had and I didn't have a jacket to match."

"What happened to your other dresses?"

Kisumi leered. "You probably wouldn't want to know. Then again you probably want to pick up a trick or two for your 'friends' right?"

Sousuke made the mistake if latching on to a word there. "What friends?"

"Maybe not friends. What is the lingo these days? Customers? Clients? Big poppas?"

Sousuke huffed once and strode off to where a couple of regulars were gathered. It didn't matter that they had been eyeing Kisumi with some interest. The fact that they weren't Kisumi was enough.

"Wait, I'll have a rum and coke!"

Sousuke greeted the customers and managed to evade the questions about where he knew the kid in the dress from. He could deal with these customers. He could tell a joke laugh even louder at one of theirs, walk the line between friendly and flirty because that was how to keep these men happy, how to make them feel flattered enough to keep returning despite the fact that at their age they were mostly on the lookout for something substantial. Through his regular spiel, Sousuke had prepared an extra drink and excused himself at the right time to shove the glass at Kisumi who had been wailing his name the whole time.

"If she comes in here and tries to start something I will not just stand here and take it."

Kisumi nodded and stirred the straw in the glass. He pressed his lips together before Sousuke could tell whether or not he was smiling before peering up from beneath too many pairs of fake eyelashes.

"She won't come here, don't worry. I just wanted to come to see you before I met her."

"Oh."

Kisumi nodded and sipped through the straw as he tilted his wrist to glance at the face of the delicate silver watch sitting there.

"Can I get this to go? I am running short on time"

Sousuke rolled his eyes and flicked Kisumi on the forehead through the heavy fringe of his wig. "Just stay and finish your drink. She won't mind if you are a bit late"

"Are we speaking about the same Midori-chan? If I don't get there before she does who knows how long it will be before she wants to meet me again"

"Just tell her I forced you to stay."

"I could tell her that one of your customers requested you bring a friend."

"We don't have enough time for me to get pissed off again so I will just say I am sure she will appreciate such a solid testament to your monogamy."


	5. Kikuchi-San

Sousuke didn't like to argue with Kisumi just to be contrary. He would rather Kisumi was completely off the mark just so he did not have to think about just how many men asked him to love hotels at the end of his shift. Never when the manager was watching and never agreeing to his attempts to reject with when he said it was too late and maybe they could do this another time.

Kisumi was not completely right though. Seeing as Sousuke was already having to put up with what he only cared to label as humiliation he would not have minded getting paid for it. As it was Shinohara-san and his friends all liked to get off to the softening of Sousuke's speech and the hard strength of his hands as they commented on how pretty he was despite his apparent virility, how meek and soft he was despite how solid his body was to the touch, how open and willing and polite he was to his elders who wanted nothing more than to appreciate a pretty boy with a pretty mouth. If asked the question, Sousuke knew without a doubt that Kisumi was a lot prettier than him. Kisumi might even play the role better too. Sousuke preferred that Kisumi had nothing to do with this. It was hard enough jabbing and jibing without considering how Kisumi would feel if the situations were reversed.

Would Kisumi be able to writhe on the bed, half-lidded and stark naked as he fingered himself open? Would Kisumi be able to pout and beg for an old man's cock? Would Kisumi be able to lick and suck and kiss at every inch of skin afforded him just to make a sad old man feel desired the way men half his age are? Would Kisumi be able to whine and groan at push into the weight of a middle-aged spread and the acrid breath from a diet of red meat and redder wine? Would Kisumi be able to forget himself enough to ride their cocks as though his very existence depended on driving the wilting hardness into himself?

Unfortunately Sousuke thought Kisumi probably could do all that if there was something in it for him. Sousuke was doing all this just because he had been asked at a point when he felt rude for not saying yes.

He flinched too hard, aware that the reaction was nowhere near the shudder and arousal he had been going for.

"Did I do something wrong, Sou-chan?"

"Ah, Kikuchi-chan, of course not," the simper was well practiced at this point and Sousuke was almost impressed with how it had not become his natural reaction in the wrong company. It seemed to salve Kikuchi for just a moment. Kikuchi was new, not just to Sousuke's circle but he was new to Ni-Choume altogether. He had met Shinohara through the friend of a friend after his wife's condition had deteriorated to the point that in the moments she could breathe and eat without tubes she could no longer remember her husband. Sousuke first heard the story when Kikuchi had broken down and confessed he could not go through with this as he dissolved into snotty sobs on Sousuke's lap. Sousuke got through it with gentle words and never ceasing fingers stroking through the thinning thatch of hair at Kikuchi's temples. He tried not to remember the part where he had dropped his tone and offered to guide Kikuchi through it, invited Kikuchi to use his wife's name if that helped. It was only that he was not sure how else he was supposed to get through these situations.

"Kikuchi-chan, it was only that I thought I might sneeze and I did not think that Kikuchi-chan would find me appealing if he saw that."

"Sneezing is only natural."

"Of course. Kikuchi-chan knows best. Next time I will work harder not to make Kikuchi-chan worry."


	6. Red Wine

Kisumi tried not to frown across the table at Midori but she had already seen.

"Shigino-san."

"Really, Midori-chan, don't you think we might be at the stage where you can use my given name?"

"I absolutely will not."

Kisumi smiled and tilted his head in the way Midori claimed to find endearing. He was wearing his favourite wig which framed his face delicately and earlier he had spotted the perfect blouse, wine red and chiffon and he could not think of anything that would look more perfect when Midori tore it off him that evening. Midori was a lucky woman, he thought, because Kisumi doubted there were too many men as dedicated to this pursuit as he was.

"Even so, calling me Shigino-san is so formal."

"Whatever I choose to call you is beside the point. What I want to know is that your family at least know you are in a relationship. I understand that you might not want to introduce us right away but at least let them warm up to the idea."

"But Midori-chan," Kisumi said, too conscious of the tightness of his mouth, "You are the one who is so resistant to the idea of meeting them. How can you meet when you hardly want to meet with me?"

"I said just let them know about me."

It was a difficult subject to broach. His parents had stopped asking if he was with anybody directly but Kisumi frequently found himself on the receiving end of significant glances whenever he was in the vicinity of a couple, whether they were literally present or simply being mentioned in conversation. He had tried to drop hints but he didn't want to outright mention Midori and then have to explain things he would rather not explain. Kisumi's parents were dense to the hints but Hayato was definitely odd the last time he visited.

In fact the second Hayato clapped eyes on Sousuke on his last visit he offered a very formal greeting, which Sousuke did not question even if they had met previously, and insisted on giving them some personal time to spend together. Midori probably wouldn't appreciate hearing about that so he shrugged and said, "I have been leaving subtle hints."

"Right. Of course you have, Shigino-san, how thoughtful."

"Midori-chan-"

"Shigino-san, I have an early appointment to make so it appears I will now have to leave. Have a pleasant evening."

Kisumi could have tried to stop Midori when her handbag caught a decorative spike on the chair or when she had stooped to gather some of the makeup that scattered around her feet as it did so, but they had argued before and she only got increasingly poisonous in the late hours of the night. In the morning she would have mellowed and would whine at how she missed Kisumi in response to whatever apology he spared for her. It was routine, it was easy, but Midori's departing glare was still startlingly sharp.

She hadn't even commented on the blouse.


	7. Sleep

Contrary to expectation, Kisumi's presence at the bar seemed to repel Sousuke in the oddest way. It seemed many of the routines of Kisumi's life were being broken. He sighed and backed away, watching as Sousuke monitored his retreat. He took a seat at a small table and contented himself with reading the last message Midori had sent him.

_i miss you, <3 _

Nothing extraordinary, but for Midori that was practically an admission of love. Kisumi could take that if it was all he was given. He regretted that he had once told Sousuke that Midori was a difficult woman to love because even if she was sparing with her affections it only meant he could properly appreciate each fragment of joy.

Kisumi sighed. He should have been approached by somebody by now and he was far too comfortable to get up to go to the bar when all of the bar staff knew he was here. When he looked up, Sousuke was glaring at him from across the way. Kisumi really could not rely on Sousuke to monitor his own rudeness.

He lifted a hand to beckon Sousuke. There was some resistance before Sousuke's shoulder slumped and he came from behind the bar. He really needed to stop doing these things for show. The _tsundere_ thing was not very appealing to Kisumi.

"What?" "You are not cute at all."

"Good. I am not trying to be." Sousuke glared down at the table and on a good day, Kisumi knew that glare would have been directed at him.

"Is somebody here?" Sousuke did not reply but when Kisumi kicked out the chair opposite, Sousuke sank into the seat with a grateful sigh. He looked up after a moment and nodded.

"Tell them you are coming home with me tonight."

"It's no big deal."

Kisumi rolled his eyes. From the set of Sousuke's jaw to the dragging tone of his voice it could not be more obvious that this was a big deal.

"How about we actually do go home together?" Sousuke raised his eyebrows, unimpressed, so Kisumi went on. "If I really did go home with you then you would have to say no and there would be nothing they could do about it. And I don't mean this _Onee Kotoba_ crap, say it how the Sousuke I know would say it."

Sousuke's face very slowly broke into a grin at that and he leaned back into the chair, pushing his weight against the back and letting his shoulders drop. "For someone who can't fight their own battles you really know how to stand up to people." He paused, glanced back at the bar and by the time Kisumi could see, Sousuke's face had fallen. "Ah, I would have hoped that last night would have been enough, I suppose."

"Last night too? Sousuke, if you don't want to do this then don't you think you should stop?"

"Stop how? They know where I work, some of them know where I live and I don't have anywhere to go to get away from them."

"If they are asking you at work, tell Mama to get them to stop. I will tell if you want me to!"

"Its…" Sousuke sagged. Kisumi had an inkling of how much Sousuke had sacrificed to get even this far. One night Sousuke confessed that he didn't see himself ever reaching Rin again, that the order he had done things in had scuppered those chances, and even if knowing that made Kisumi miserably joyful he did not want Sousuke to suffer to that extent. There was not much that Kisumi could do to help but he wanted to do something. "Its fine, I suppose."

"You're not going with him tonight." Sousuke shrugged and Kisumi tilted his head and adopted the tone that irritated Sousuke into smiles more often than not. "We can have one of our special sleepovers. We can watch a movie and we can eat snacks and as a special bonus I will let you sleep in the same bed as me if you feel really lonely."

"Wow, you must feel really sorry for me" Sousuke huffed. "You do realise that the last time you offered this bonus I woke up to you smacking me in the face and telling me to fuck off."

"I was sleeping. I can't always be thinking about how much of a clingy baby you are."

Sousuke reached across the table and flicked Kisumi's forehead with enough force for the sting to reach his eyes. Sousuke did laugh though as he stood from the table. "I might have to take you up on that offer. Rum and coke, right?"


	8. Friends

Sousuke could forgive a familiar face for stumbling into the bar on one ordinary evening. He could forgive a familiar face for frowning through recognition as they asked, "Yamazaki-kun?" It was a strange enough situation and Sousuke knew he would have struggled to identify the face of a memory smiling into the idiotic kisses Kisumi was administering in response to every use of his name. Sousuke knew he would have struggled in that situation because even as he was leaning across the bar, whispering "Kisumi," and holding his breath in anticipation of where the next sloppy press of lips could be he was thinking it was weird and stupid. Sousuke really could forgive a familiar face for stuttering and blushing and not wanting to look anyone in the eye during the explanation of how they got lost and how they got even more lost upon realising that this was not the part of Tokyo they wanted to be. Sousuke could forgive that and he could help give directions without asking Kisumi if his girlfriend had called him yet. It wasn't jealousy, it was a genuine question and he could forgive the familiar face for reminding him to ask.

What was harder to forgive was that same face, far too pink and flanked by the heated glow of embarrassed ears, whilst an order for a drink was placed several days later.

"A green tea? Wow, Tachibana, your tastes are surprisingly mature."

The blush deepened and Sousuke wanted to ask a reason for the return. Rather than that he prepared the drink, iced with a tiny umbrella and a glittery straw and presented it.

"Thank you so much, Yamazaki-kun."

"You are most welcome."

"It must be interesting to work in a place like this."

Sousuke could not tell if Tachibana was referring to the bar itself or the gay district in general. Either way, interesting would not be Sousuke's word of choice. Nonetheless he shrugged and hummed as though in thought.

"Kisumi sometimes drops by to annoy me."

Sousuke was rushing to recall his first-aid knowledge beneath the disaffected calm of his face. Mama would be unhappy if Sousuke killed a customer through conversation alone.

"Hmm. Yes, I saw that."

The blushing was contagious. Sousuke hoped somebody in the vicinity knew the cure for whatever infectious ailment they had both fallen victim to.

"That doesn't happen often."

"I see."

"He was just playing. We weren't… we're not… like that."

Tachibana glanced around the bar and Sousuke wondered if he was detecting some covert facetiousness.

"I see," he said again, quiet, careful, scarlet as he sucked iced tea through the glittery pink straw. Though it would probably serve to make matters worse, Sousuke could not help buy hope that Kisumi would make an appearance.

He was about to move further along the bar perhaps check on how much ice they would need and see if anybody required service while the heat thrumming under his skin receded. Instead Mama decided to join the conversation and prolong Sousuke's painful state of wishing for a swift death.

"Sou-chan, is this another one of your friends from home?"

"Sort of." Mama's eyebrows shot up and Tachibana straightened on the barstool. Sousuke cleared his throat and added, "He was a friend of a friend back home. We did not speak much at the time so I was most surprised to meet again after all this time."

"How lovely. Sou-chan, might you introduce us?"

"Of course. Mama, this is Tachibana. Tachibana, this is the person who saved me from dying in a gutter on my first night in Tokyo."

"Sou-chan, you have always been too dramatic. It is wonderful to meet you, Tachibana. Do people happen to call you anything else?"

"Ah, Makoto."

Mamas eyes might have flashed but Sousuke didn't doubt that this endless blushing also caused hallucinations.

"How delightful, Makoto. Might I can you Mako-chan?"

"Yes, of course."

"Perhaps if you are around later we might all be able to have a chat about how well you know one another."

"Oh, but Mama, I believe Tachibana will not be stopping for too long. I heard that Tachibana and Kisumi might have some catching up to do of their own."

"Without Sou-chan? How sad that you must work tonight. Would you like-"

"There is always next time, Mama!" Sousuke interrupted cheerfully. Thankfully Tachibana nodded earnestly under Mama's sharp gaze before ducking his head to sip his iced tea. He may not have been the most effective liar but at least he could find some distraction before he broke. Mama pinched Sousuke's cheek and pressed a kiss to his temple, muttering about how diligent Sousuke was all the while. When they were alone again Tachibana made a sound that could have been a laugh had it come from anybody else. Sousuke as not sure what the sound was meant to be when Tachibana made it.

"Yamazaki-kun is not how I remember."

"We didn't know each other that well," Sousuke bit back. He sighed, eased the frustration out through his nose and said, "If it wasn't for Mama I would not even have the shirt on my back. I am not ashamed of what happened but this cannot get back to Rin."

Tachibana shook his head, expression drooping pitifully as though he was the one behind the bar and begging for a graduating promise to remain intact. He was still supposed to swim. He was still supposed to swim with Rin again.

"It won't, don't worry. I was not even thinking of him. Sorry. I just… is Kisumi-kun really coming?"

"He might. He never tells me either way."

"Does he know that you are like… that you are so different."

"Tachibana, I already said we did not know each other that well. Anyway it is my job to speak like this."

"Sorry. I just think it is quite unexpected for Yamazaki-kun to be-"

Sousuke did not get to find out exactly what was so unexpected, but he could hazard a guess or two. His brain raced through the first fifty things he had never expected about this own life as Kisumi charged into the bar chanting Tachibana's name and cheering at the sight of him. Seeing as the world was kind enough to grant him Kisumi's appearance to handle Tachibana, perhaps another favour could be paid so he could meet with Rin as his equal and without some stories he would be too afraid to tell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oooh a surprise new friend!
> 
> That OVA with the water guns was cute, right? Just the kind of silliness we all need in our lives. Obviously I loved it enough that I am going to plough ahead with disregarding it in the way that I tend to.


	9. New Fashion

The worst thing was the fact that despite Kisumi wearing thick black tights, ¥1200; Kurt Geiger boots, ¥14360; a navy, crepe dress, ¥55650; a white fur coat he was given from one of the girls at the bar; and carrying a huge vintage handbag that another of the girls from the bar said would be all the rage, girls were not deterred by him. In fact this appearance along with his third favourite wig, a long bob with a heavy fringe, had attracted an astoundingly larger group of girls than he was used to.

For some reason or other a lot of girls in Tokyo knew Kisumi or knew somebody who did. He never had a reason to be rude to any of them so he smiled and was friendly and hoped they were not abandoning plans and appointments just for the disappointment of speaking to him. He was used to being asked if he was a model, if he had a girlfriend, if he would like to go out for drinks and all the rest but usually people would assume he was some pretty boy expecting a gaggle of pretty girls to come at his beck and call. Dressed in the only way Midori would ever want to see him, Kisumi was surprised to be getting much the same reaction. He had sent a generically friendly smile in one direction only to find he actually had known the girl and before he knew it they had both attracted a crowd that was eight girls-strong by his last count.

As keen as he was to exchange make-up and fashion tips with all of these girls who wanted him to go on at length about his apparently new hobby, Kisumi was fucked. He didn't often come out dressed like this in the middle of the day but Midori had asked him on a rare daylight date. Midori had heard inklings of Kisumi's popularity, surely but if she witnessed it firsthand, and at this scale, Kisumi could not guarantee his place in her good books.

"Nomura-san," he tried politely as the girl who started all of this ducked below the table to reach into her backpack.

"Yeah?"

"I have to meet somebody today and I need to leave soon."

She knocked her head on the way up and when she resurfaced, flyaways were escaping her messy ponytail and her cheeks and forehead were flushed as she help up a well used lip balm. "Shigino-kun, you should have said so earlier. But if it was such an important meeting I am sure you would have remembered it before."

Kisumi had mentioned it before. As soon as she saw him, squinted through some distant recognition and then asked him what he was doing he told her he was meeting somebody. Or at least he thought he had mentioned it. Between seeing Nomura and having their group multiply rapidly, Kisumi was struggling to remember whether or not he truly had told her.

"I thought I had already said."

"Shigino-kun, that is so silly of you," Nomura pouted. "I hope it is not anybody too special. If it was me, for example, I would not be very happy to find out you had been sidetracked by a whole catalogue of gorgeous girls."

"Hmm." It was uncanny how she had completely guessed the situation but failed to see it for its truth. Nomura was right though. She was probably the plainest of the girls, plain in the sense that the was perfectly beautiful and never wore any make up and as he looked around Kisumi could only imagine Midori getting more upset with him. Midori was not unattractive but she was convinced that she was. It had been hard enough to convince her that their initial courting had not been a joke but if she found out about this Kisumi was certain to become the punch line of an altogether different joke.

"Nomura, what a surprise to see you here." Kisumi's ear caught the voice and his head followed the sound to see the person he wanted to see most right now. Things would still be okay. Things could be fixed if Sousuke could just get him out of here. Kisumi waited and Sousuke's face was carefully cheerful as he added, "Shigino, I am even more surprised to see you."

He sat down opposite Kisumi. Kisumi was going to die. After dying Kisumi would absolutely come back from beyond the grave to haunt or kill Sousuke depending on his mood at the time.

"This is a very nice outfit but you probably could have put a bit more effort into the eye makeup. You are really selling yourself too short there."

Nomura huffed and crossed her arms. "Trust Yamazaki-kun to already know about something like this."

"It is hardly a big secret. With people like Shigino you should assume it to be true anyway."

A pause and then Kisumi was certain the stars had aligned to allow him to witness what came next. Nomura leered as she leaned across the table "Does that mean I could assume the same things about you, Yamazaki-kun?"

"No. Don't assume things like that about me," Sousuke blustered. For a moment his eyes sought rescue and Kisumi could only be glad that karmic desserts were being served so quickly.

"But Yamazaki-kun, you hardly batted an eyelash so one could only assume you had prior knowledge of Shigino-kun's hobby. If we also consider the jibe about his makeup one might also conclude that you are well versed in the use and application of cosmetics."

"No that is not-"

"So really, Yamazaki-kun, it hardly seems fair that you are keeping such a secret yourself and seem so reluctant to share your own beauty with the rest of us girls."


	10. Beginning with L

Sousuke shrugged. Waited for Tachibana to take his first sip of tea before he reeled off the abridged version of what Kisumi would only describe as the greatest love story for a generation.

"They met at some Okama bar or something. Kisumi was very popular and flirty, as usual, but one person there was not as keen to joke with him. Between rushes they would sometimes chat about weird nerd stuff or basketball or whatever the hell they have in common so Kisumi was confused as to why Midori was constantly cancelling plans. The way I see it she must have thought they were dates but didn't want to go when it was not going to be a private thing. I might be skipping something important but basically Kisumi confronted her and she confessed that she the bar was the only place she could dress how she liked without people saying anything and somehow Kisumi has been sucking her dick ever since."

Tachibana flushed in the way that had grown familiar to Sousuke. When he ducked his head to sip from the straw Sousuke could see the heated stain creeping down his neck and below his collar.

"Oh. So they… oh."

Sousuke shrugged again. "I am honestly surprised that Kisumi hasn't told you the long version himself."

"He probably hasn't found the time," Tachibana suggested with one palm spread on the bar next to his glass.

"If there is one thing I know about Kisumi it is that he always makes time, especially if it is to tell people about crap they don't care about." 

"That's mean."

"It's true and you know it, Tachibana."

Tachibana took a strategic sip through his straw and glanced at another of the customers seated at the bar. He politely smiled at the man before wilting as he faced Sousuke once more.

"You are sneaky. You keep acting wide-eyed and innocent but I don't find that cute at all."

"Oh!" Tachibana tilted his head and widened his eyes to ask, "So what do you find cute?"


	11. Baby

Kisumi was always calling Sousuke a baby. Silly baby, whiny baby, stupid ugly baby. Baby, baby, baby, baby. He was not sure why he did it. He simply liked the sound.

There was a certain intimacy with it that marked them as close but there was still an element of teasing that had been left over from their days at school.

The thing about calling Sousuke a baby was that it was mostly true. It was definitely true whenever Rin came up in conversation and it was true when Sousuke didn't think anybody else was looking.

Kisumi's favourite time it was true was when Sousuke was sleeping. He slept with a frown on his face and an arm constantly reaching out across any space there happened to be. Sometimes Kisumi would sit up from his own futon and crawl across the gap until he reached the arm Sousuke reached out with. He liked seeing how much of a giant baby Sousuke was so he would very gently press his index finger to Sousuke's palm and watch the twitch before the fingers curled to grasp at Kisumi. It would make Kisumi smile every time and he would wonder how Sousuke had not quite shed that particular reflex.


	12. Jiggle

Yuu was a dream.

Yuu was funny and cute and, Sousuke was now finding out, a very generous lover. Sousuke felt lazy, leaning against the bed frame as she bounced in his lap, breathy moans escaping her with the exertion. He felt lazy, and a little bit guilty for not doing much, but the jiggle of her tiny breasts was hypnotic.

He had long since given up on pressing kisses to her chest, preferring to just watch the belated motion of her breasts - they were so, so tiny, but the jelly jiggle of them belied their size. Perhaps there was some hidden mass there and he could discover the iceberg jewels beneath. Sousuke was vaguely reminded of jelly ice lollies. The jiggle of those was similar in a way that he had no idea about when he was ten years old. He already knew that Yuu's breasts did not taste anything like jelly ice lollies but despite knowing how they did not taste he could not quite remember how they did taste.

"Sousuke-kun is so funny."

Sousuke tore his eyes away, but he still had a sense of the jiggle in his eyes when he saw Yuu's smirk.

"Funny?" He was glad he managed to pronounce that one word without messing it up.

"You look like you are thinking very hard about something," she said, gasping around the syllables and Sousuke envied the control she had over her own sensuality. Apparently Sousuke's level of sensuality was imagining jelly ice lollies.

"Sorry. Sorry, I'll just..."

Sousuke tried to concentrate on something that was not frozen desserts. He found cartographers in his hands and let them see her body instead of his eyes while he watched the smirking concentration in Yuu's own face.

It seemed that Yuu was concentrating too much though. Her brows were furrowed and her moans were sounding less authentic the longer her thighs worked to keep her movements fluid. Sousuke pressed a hand onto her hip and cleared his throat.

"Yuu, how about you try your hands and knees."

Yuu stopped and frowned down at Sousuke. "What do you mean my hands and knees? You're not going to try some other hole I never agreed to, right?"

"What, no. Don't worry about it. I just think a different position might be better for you." Sousuke had only been trying to make a polite suggestion, to try and help, but he ended up pitifully pink.

"Please?"

Yuu hummed and then sat up, letting Sousuke taste the last gasp she made at that. She did turn around though, feline throw of a glance over her shoulder. Sousuke knelt behind her, felt suddenly timid at the prospect of touching the swell of her ass. He double-checked the condom - it hadn't slipped off when Yuu lifted herself from him - before pressing in.

Yuu's groan was long and low and Sousuke had to stop and hold the base of his cock for a tiny hope that he could not ruin this by coming right away.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. Fine."

He halted the experimental stir of her hips as he held an arm around her and pushed into her. It was better like this, Sousuke thought, pressing the high groans from the back of Yuu's throat with his own thrusts and keeping the undulating pressure of his fingers on her clit as her knees grew weaker and they spread until she was struggling to support herself.  

 

 

Sousuke could still taste Yuu on his lips and the back of his tongue. He was certain she would stay the whole night. Instead the second orgasm seemed to shake wakefulness into her bones and she was far more sprightly than he was as she redressed and assured Sousuke that she had enjoyed their time together.

And then she left with a pitying look as she said "You're cute but you don't seem like the second date type," and Sousuke was left with the prospect of having to sleep without another heartbeat to keep him steady.


	13. Beginning with L (redux)

Sousuke rubbed his eye upon opening the door and waited. Kisumi had sent a text saying that he intended to come over but that had been hours ago and it had given Sousuke enough time to fall asleep. Kisumi only shrugged at him, rubbed at the back of his neck and then tore off his scarf as it snagged and tangled with his rings. Sousuke held his hand out and Kisumi dutifully passed over the scarf and allowed Sousuke to untangle the frayed threads from the rings on his middle finger.

"Come in, weirdo."

Kisumi followed Sousuke into the flat and was oddly quiet as he kicked off his shoes. The force surprised him as one scuffed the wall and after a pause he apologised and lined the pair up neatly on the shoe rack. Though Sousuke had called Kisumi a weirdo he found it more unsettling that he really was acting strangely.

"Drink?"

"Honestly, Sousuke, you spend half your life making me drinks. I think I can get myself one and save you the trouble at least once." Kisumi's voice was tight and Sousuke watched as he struggled to unclench the fists sitting on the hem of his skirt.

"Don't worry about it. You're my guest."

Kisumi didn't argue and Sousuke set about boiling the kettle and setting out cups. He hoped he guessed what Kisumi wanted correctly because he didn't have the energy to make something else. Kisumi had not moved a breath since Sousuke had gone to pour them tea and Sousuke was silent as he pushed the cup at Kisumi until he accepted it. Something was wrong. Not wrong enough that Sousuke would ask outright, but wrong enough that Kisumi, usually so free with his ascertains that things were well, was struggling to disguise the anger tight in his shoulders. 

"So, it took you three hours to get here. That's weird."

Kisumi huffed and despite Sousuke tilting his head to see, Kisumi's face remained hidden behind the curtain of unfamiliar dark.

"Okay," Sousuke said. The television was off as he had just been ready to go to bed. It was lucky that Kisumi arrived when he did. "Will you be sleeping over?"

"Can I?"

Sousuke flicked Kisumi's forehead. Kisumi yelped and tore off the wig. It was Sousuke's favourite, if he had to pick one, and Kisumi's fourth favourite. Though it was only Kisumi's fourth favourite wig he was not one to treat them carelessly so Sousuke was left inhaling his surprise as Kisumi flinging the wig at the nearest wall.

Kisumi's shoulders slumped and he dropped his head onto his arms across his lap. The rise and fall of his back was quick and too deep to be calm. He had barely been keeping himself together but this was the closest Kisumi had come to letting his own storms show.

Sousuke placed his own cup of tea on the floor next to Kisumi's, pulled his leg up onto the sofa and threaded his fingers through the flattened tufts of Kisumi's hair. 

The weight of Sousuke's head almost became too much for his neck when Kisumi finally spoke.

"I think Midori-chan is a lesbian."

Very carefully, Sousuke said nothing until he was sure he wouldn't say something to make things worse.

"What was that?"

"I think Midori-chan is a lesbian."

"A lesbian?"

Apparently Sousuke had managed to say something wrong - not that he could work out what. Kisumi raised his head, one of his hands reaching to hook around the curve of Sousuke's fingers in his hair.

"Can you not see that this is upsetting me? Don't make me say it again."

"Alright, I get it. But what made you think that?"

"Midori-chan... She..." Half a smile and then his face was buried in the crook of one arm again. His fingers squeezed at Sousuke's and it was probably best to stay quiet.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I aimed to update every day or at least every couple of days and I have been very slack this week. Sorry!


	14. Hands

Kisumi's hand felt right with warmth tight against it. His hand still felt right even when the contact lapsed and his fingers were twisted and bent to the will of somebody else's hand.

Occasionally there was a twitch of pain, phantom memories of teenage mistakes and Kisumi's lungs inflated the way they always had.

Sousuke continued to tether himself to Kisumi as he served drinks for a group a few seats away along the bar. Even when his back was turned and his arm was reaching back, Kisumi could see the rise his cheeks and the relaxed slope of his shoulders. When he had to give the drinks to the customers he kept all the contact he could with Kisumi's hand, the tippity-tops of his fingertips reaching for even the finest sliver of Kisumi's fingernails as he stretched and nudged the glasses along. It was all a bit convoluted, especially when he asked Kisumi to stand up so the pair of them could shuffle over to collect the money, albeit with a firmer grip.

  
When Kisumi dropped back down onto his allocated barstool he noticed that where Makoto should have been sporting an innocent flush he appeared to be wearing a more irritated glow.

  
"Is Makoto feeling left out?" Kisumi asked teasingly as Sousuke very slowly brought Kisumi's hand to his lips and carefully, carefully pressed kisses to each one of Kisumi's knuckles. It made Kisumi smile a bit too much. Sousuke was too much of a romantic, no matter what he claimed. He and Rin really were too alike and no amount of making fun of Rin's tears changed the fact that he was also a sap.

  
Makoto shook his head, angled himself away. Kisumi didn't like making Makoto sad, so he said, "This is just service, Makoto, service."

  
"Service, even though you don't work here?"

  
"Mama has been trying to get Kisumi for a while now, right  Kisumi?"

  
Kisumi did kiss Sousuke, just left of his eleven o'clock smile and he didn't mind when Makoto turned down his offer of his own kiss.


	15. Spring

"I really love watching Haru swim!" Sousuke did not say a thing to that but he could not help but notice the sudden reproach on Kisumi's face as the words left his mouth and the placating squeeze to his elbow. Sousuke did not need placating so shrugged off Kisumi's hand without feeling guilty. It seemed Kisumi really did think he was a baby.

In all honesty, Sousuke had never felt like more of a baby than he did when he had met up with Tachibana and Kisumi, only to realise that he and Kisumi were dressed far to similarly. Pastel T-shirts and the jeans that Kisumi insisted they both buy because they make everybody's asses look great - Sousuke remembered Rin's childhood chagrin at having his mother coordinate his outfits with Gou's. Sousuke had laughed at the time but he supposed he had to gain an understanding of Rin's feelings at some point.

This whole day was odd. Matching outfits aside, Sousuke was not sure how he had been tricked into agreeing to come. More than an official meeting, Nanase's university was holding an open practice with a few other teams from the prefecture. Just as he had been forced into enjoying propelling himself through the water, Sousuke now found himself forced to be a spectator but no amount of pressure could make him enjoy it from this angle.

He wasn't bitter. He didn't find swimming very interesting at all when he wasn't the one doing it.

Kisumi was getting far too into cheering for strangers and it apparently wasn't only Nanase who he loved to watch.

"You seem tense, Tachibana."

"Ah! Do I? Maybe I am a little bit nervous," Tachibana agreed. He sent a wavering smile and Sousuke did not want to know what that was about. That was why he determinedly did not ask what could possibly be cause for nervousness. Unfortunately, Tachibana decided that today he was the type to share without being prompted.  "I think something about swimming will always make me nervous. Is it the same for you, Yamazaki-kun?"

"No."

"I suppose that's not much of a surprise. You always have had this air of being able to hold yourself together well." Sousuke did not argue, yet again, that Tachibana never knew him all that well to make a judgement like that, but Tachibana continued as though he had heard the sentiment. "Whether or not that is true, the fact that you give off that impression is good. I admire that. I have never been too good at being cool."

Sousuke could not think of anywhere less appropriate to have this conversation. Unless Tachibana was fond of pouring his heart out to the disjointed cheers, splashes and beeps of an aquatic centre.  Even so, Sousuke was anything but cool if the stuttering politeness he feigned more evenings than not was anything to go by. Sufficiently curious, he asked, "Cool?"

"Yes, I think you are very cool, Yamazaki-kun. At first I thought it would be good for me to learn to be more like that but it turns out that it doesn't really suit me. I don't mind it so much though because knowing how hard you work to be that way makes me appreciate how cool you are even more."

Sousuke had always hated how warm it was at the poolside and this was for some reason the hottest one yet. It was already stuffy with all of these people milling around and checking out how the swimmers were, but Tachibana had officially used the word 'cool' too many times. He had used it enough that he had drawn Kisumi's attention and that was never a good idea.

"Sousuke is really cool, isn't he? Cool enough to break hearts every day of the week," Kisumi said sagely with an entirely unnecessary arm slung across the breadth of Sousuke's shoulders.

Pinkly, Tachibana nodded. "He really is."

Kisumi's eyes widened and his mouth dropped open and Sousuke hoped maybe he was over thinking things. Luckily he could stop thinking about this mess when Kisumi's boisterous laughter and Tachibana's flustered "Haru-chan's next," as he read from the programme were both swallowed up from the swell of cheers as the Women's 200m freestyle drew to a close.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am not very good at keeping up with updates, so apologies for that


	16. Innocent Question

"I wanted to ask about you and Yamazaki-Kun."

There was some hesitation there and something about the reluctance that was losing out to curiosity was divinely delicious. Kisumi glanced up from the menu and with a tilt of his head waited. It only made sense that Makoto would wait until both Hayato and Ren and Ran had wondered off somewhere, apparently too cool and young to waste their precious moments in Tokyo with their elder brothers. Kisumi expected nothing less than the question to be asked when they were alone but maybe he had expected it on a different day some point in the future. The longing to solve a riddle must have been stronger than Kisumi thought, for Makoto to not even be able to wait a few days longer.

"The both of you are... well I'd rather not make any assumptions. I was hoping you would be able to tell me what you are without being rude."

"You are not being rude at all, Makoto." Makoto did not looked like he agreed, so Kisumi added, "Sousuke might have a different opinion but he always has been a grumpy baby, especially when it comes to people knowing about him."

"You don't need to tell me then-"

"No, no, Makoto!" Kisumi reached across the table to pull the menu away from Makoto's face. "We are really very good friends. "

Makoto nodded down at the menu and Kisumi could not help the smile that broadened over his face. He had seen the moment Makoto decided what he would order a minute and a half ago. Makoto really was too obvious.

"Maybe it is different for you, but we are very comfortable around one another."

"Haru and I are very comfortable around one another but we never kiss," Makoto mumbled, the menu once again rising to shield his face from view.

Makoto was really too cute. Kisumi only allowed a fraction of his smile into his voice when he airily replied, "Maybe you and Haru just aren't as fond of kissing. I am quite partial to it and I know Sousuke is too."

"But you have a girlfriend, don't you?"

Kisumi shrugged. "Lots of people have friends and girlfriends."

Makoto's knuckles paled in his grip on the menu. His eyes darted about and despite the discomfort, Kisumi hoped he could see this new, curious, side of Makoto for a few moments longer.

"But if I was your girlfriend I would feel very jealous if you were going to a bar and kissing somebody else all the time."

"You aren't my girlfriend, though, are you? Midori kisses some of her friends too."

Makoto blinked back his surprise and very carefully placed his menu on the table between them. "I see. People in Tokyo really are different. Have you decided what you will order?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delayed updates. The worst thing is I actually have a bunch of chapters written up and I'm forgetting to actually post them.


	17. Understanding

Kisumi had not bothered changing before he came to see Sousuke. He had been on his way to work when he realised that he couldn't go. As he had dressed himself in lipstick and lace he had fully intended to work the whole of his shift - it was no big deal because h only ever had to work one or two nights a week - but halfway there he called the manager, said he had only just found out about a deadline for a group project at university and he would not be able to make it. He didn't care much that it did not sound believable, especially as similar excuses for his last five shifts resulted in the same sympathetic hums and  assurances that despite the short notice they would be able to find cover.

"Just quit," Sousuke grunted.

"It's not that easy, Sousuke," Kisumi said with his hands gripping his glass of water. Trying to explain it to someone like Sousuke - someone who claimed to have never fallen in love - was as much use as collecting the condensation from cold glasses. The goal would escape them both and he had more hope of the condensation forming on him by itself. He released the glass and rubbed warmth into his hands, numbed and moist from the glass but not really anything to show. He wished something would come easily to him.

"Sure it is. Give them a letter saying you don't want to work there anymore and there you go."

"And what would I do about money?"

"Aren't your parents paying for university and a place for you to stay? The only reason you are working is so that you can dress like that, which I would like to remind you that you only do because you have that job."

"And Midori-chan-"

"Tachibana, tell him."

Sousuke was apparently fine with ignoring Kisumi but it probably would have worked better if Makoto could actually form a thought to vocalise.

"You look nice," Makoto finally said.

"Thank you, Makoto, it is very nice of you to-"

"Quit your job, stupid." Saying 'stupid' was unnecessary, especially as Sousuke had chosen to flick Kisumi's forehead at the same time but that was probably all the kindness he was going to get this evening. Maybe he should have gone to work, they were much kinder to him there even if it was because they were all still tip-toeing around him. All but one colleague was anyway.

"Where is it that you work, Kisumi?"

Still rubbing his forehead, Kisumi frowned. He was certain Makoto already knew where he worked and the wide eyes and the tilt of his head must have been some show of politeness. Kisumi hoped that one day Makoto would stop being polite. He was sure he had seen glimmers but he might have been confusing Makoto's instances of excess as rude instead.

"He works across the road," Sousuke answered.

"That close? Won't they know that you're lying?"

"They could sack me if they wanted to," Kisumi reasoned. They really had passed a lot of opportunities to sack Kisumi but he was still technically an employee.

"Maybe the manager thinks that if they sack you it will stop you spending money here. Has he ever mentioned anything about Mama when you have been around?" Sousuke asked, leaning over the bar and arching an eyebrow conspiratorially.

"He says it was a good job he took over that bar, otherwise there would be two financial black holes in Shinjuku."

 Sousuke's face instantly set to a frown and he hissed something that had Makoto flinching.

"Don't quit your job, Kisumi," Sousuke said, punctuating with a fist on the bar. "Call in sick or whatever you have to do to make sure that bastard keeps paying you for not working."

Kisumi couldn't hide the smile that made his lips tremble. He sipped the glass of water and shook his head, "Sounds like somebody is really fighting Mama's corner."

"You're not on _his_ side, are you?"

Kisumi shrugged. "He pays me."

"Turncoat," Sousuke said as he straightened, shaking his head at Kisumi all the while. He really was soft at heart if a story the pair of them had managed to extract and piece together, without having any official validation, was enough to colour Sousuke's opinions so deeply.

"I'm sorry to interrupt," Makoto said meekly, "But what exactly are you talking about?"

"No, Makoto, we are sorry for keeping you out of the loop. Sousuke's manager used to own the bar across the street, the one where I am technically employed."

"Mama was in a relationship at the time," Sousuke surmised flatly, "With one of the worst people to exist. Mama had just bought this bar, had big plans when the dickhead from across the street decided to trade in for a younger model. Mama pulled out of that bar and managed to make this bar what it is now from the profits."

As biased as expected, Sousuke finished by crossing his arms and sending a hard glare Kisumi's way. Makoto's eyes were wide and Kisumi wondered how sheltered he was for something as uninteresting as business to surprise him so much. "Makoto, take his words with a pinch of salt. My manager is not that bad. Just very hands-off. But in light of recent events I can completely understand why it would be difficult to remain in a place with someone who had caused you pain."

"Kisumi, are you alright?"

"Fine," Kisumi said with a smile. He drained the glass of water and stood slowly. "I shouldn't have worn these boots today. My feet are killing me. I'll see you later."

 As he walked away he heard Sousuke telling Makoto to ask Kisumi something himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Double update: forgive me?


	18. Australia

Sousuke was tired. Kisumi was the sleepy kind of happy and he tilted his head into Sousuke's chest too comfortably.

"Rin invited me to visit."

"Hmm?"

Sousuke hadn't meant to mention it. They were sort of enjoying the film, something to do with sparsely dressed girls, and one man who blended in quite well, fighting for the sake of being cute girls who liked to fight, and Sousuke was ready to sleep too. But the occasional drifting he had been experiencing was jolted to a stop when he remembered the email, the Skype call and Sousuke pretending to have a busy schedule.

"Say that again," Kisumi requested.

"Rin invited me to visit him. In Australia. Probably mentioned something about giving me a dash more motivation so I would hurry up and join him."

Kisumi was quiet for a long moment - a moment that only got more awkward as Sousuke witnessed the dynamics of on-screen sex in a movie that was already treading the line between lightening the mood and being gratuitous quite clumsily. It was over the sounds of panting and whining that Kisumi said, "Does he know that you aren't swimming?"

"Don't know."

"Have you told him that you are?" Kisumi seemed to feel the shake of Sousuke's head well enough and he went on, "He's not such a romantic to assume that all is well. Probably. I'm probably wrong. You'll have to skip a few more of our training sessions to do some swimming then, right? Is that your way of telling me without telling me? Stop wussing out of things and just tell me you have to ditch me for your stupid boyfriend, Sousuke." He scoffed the words and laughed again, quieter afterwards.

"He's not my boyfriend. I will admit that he is stupid though."

Kisumi laughed again and reached back to tickle at the nape of Sousuke's neck.

"I'm not going though."

Kisumi's hand stilled. Sousuke could have sketched the frown that Kisumi turned on him. He had a second to wonder whether he was the one that made Kisumi make that face the most, and why he might even think that at all. Then a spark of pain from Kisumi pinching his nails into Sousuke's neck.

"Why not?"

"It's a bad idea."

"No it isn't. He's Rin. You have to go and see him. Is it money you need? I'll get some money together for you somehow."

"What, you'll hold a fundraiser just for me?" Sousuke teased. Kisumi nodded all too seriously at that and Sousuke wondered why he had even brought it up in the first place. "I'm not going. I just thought it was worth mentioning. Next time I will tell him to stop slacking off."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay I am trying to make amends for the lack of updates - I will try to do one a day. I'm sure that's a goal I can manage.


	19. Warning

"You appear to be quite close with our Sou-chan."

Kisumi already knew who it was. He had never seen this face, crinkled with tiredness and glossed with the sort of friendliness that was gained through practice, and he had never before heard this voice, smooth despite the cracks and warbles, but Kisumi knew who it was. This was the person Sousuke hated the most. This was the person Sousuke had been pretending into non-existence for the sake of Rin.

Shinohara was startlingly real.

Kisumi had no idea how this man had cornered Sousuke the way he had. He was much shorter than the both of them and his suit did little to hide the softness of middle-age. He probably had some other leverage that was much less physical but when confronted with the man himself it was difficult to see how Sousuke would struggle to say no.

"Sousuke and I are very good friends," Kisumi agreed, amiable smile in place.

Shinohara said nothing at that, only a flickering appraisal with his eyes as Kisumi attempted to make his way into the bar. Shinohara stepped to the side to stop Kisumi from advancing and he was close enough that Kisumi could see the watery gaze making his eyes sag. Age was a strange thing and Kisumi hoped he would not look so sad when he reached whatever ungraceful age Shinohara was.

"It might be a good idea for you to stay away from him."

"And why would I do that?" Kisumi asked innocently.

"I doubt you want anything to happen to that pretty little face of yours."

"You think I'm pretty? How sweet! I really am flattered, but-"

And maybe this was why Sousuke was so sure to toe the lines Shinohara drew for him. Shinohara's grip on the lapels of his jacket was strong enough to pull him into an ugly stoop. The strength was unexpected but Kisumi caught himself with a laugh. Whatever Shinohara wanted, he was not going to get it from Kisumi.

"You don't understand," Shinohara said succinctly. "You are going to stay away from him."

"No."

Shinohara tugged him down further, bare inches between the tips of their noses. His complexion was pockmarked and heavily lined. Kisumi would have to remind Sousuke to moisturise properly to avoid a similar fate.

Narrow, frail teeth, stained with tobacco and coffee, bared  through thin lips. "Go home."

"Sousuke would miss me too much."

"Go home, Shigino-kun."

Kisumi quickly smoothed out his frown as he straightened up as much as Shinohara's grip would allow. The time for polite pretence had come to a close.

"Oh, I will. Just as soon as Sousuke's shift is done."

"No matter how close the two of you are, you are only friends," Shinohara said almost absently, his eyes fixed on the seam at Kisumi's shoulder. A flash and his eyes were still and calm, a pond that could not cultivate even the hardiest of life forms. He said, "You really should hurry home. Your precious Hayato-chan might be eager to call you."

Kisumi's lungs were full of the thick, dead water. He wouldn't expel it by coughing and spluttering. There was no current to fight against, nothing but his own waterlogged weight to fight himself to a feigned calm, the float up through the viscosity.

"I have no idea what you are talking about, Shinohara-san."

"That adorable little brother of yours. He certainly loves to talk about you."

Kisumi had never been much of a swimmer. He could do it if he had to but it was such an isolated exercise. Even in a pool full of other people it was your own body moving you through the water, fighting to float and hoping the water would not take any notice of how frightened he might be of dying right there. He had always preferred things that were lighter - not so much of a threat to his survival - things that could be enjoyed with more people.

The odd numbness that suddenly seared into his chest was one thing but the result of it could probably have been enjoyed by multiple people.

Shinohara was clutching his face wheezing in surprise and was still reeling from the punch while Kisumi shook the pain from his fingers and relearning how to breathe with empty lungs.

"See what happens if you talk about my brother again." He stopped himself from opening the door to the bar and glanced over his shoulder at the man still floundering. "Sousuke is off limits for you too, okay?"

His footsteps were light and quick when he was inside. Sousuke raised his eyebrows at the entrance while he continued making drinks for the two timid customers seated in front of him. Kisumi perched primly on a barstool, inspecting his reddened hand as he waited for Sousuke to lean over the bar and poke at the swelling.

"What's this?" Sousuke asked.

"Would you do me a favour?"

"Depends," Sousuke said, pulling Kisumi's hand closer to his face.

"Call Hayato. Ask him if he's okay."

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Will you do it?"

"Yeah, I'll do it now. Let me get you some ice first."

Sousuke pushed  away and when his back was turned Kisumi could breathe easier. Sousuke could check on Hayato and he wouldn't ask anything stupid, or get mad, or break down. Breathe in, clean air, breathe out, residual drowning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay i already failed at that whole "I will try to upload one a day" thing.  
> But two today will make up for it? The next one is like my favourite chapter - I guess. If I had to choose one. So that's fun.


	20. Health

Not even kisumi tried to talk as they waited. 

Kisumi had been the one to invite himself along and after Mama's talk, Sousuke had thought it would be a good idea to bring him along anyway. There were not too many others in the clinic; only a few tired faced with tight mouths and creased foreheads. When Mama had passed Sousuke a slip of paper with directions to the clinic there had been no mention of how grim the whole thing would be. Everything was beige in the sense of hiding grime rather than exuding neutrality. There was a brown stain to the left of Kisumi's foot - a darker boarder where the coffee had reached its limits and Sousuke was certain Kisumi's foot was creeping closer to the stain for the simple purpose of irritating Sousuke.

Getting checked out was not something Sousuke had even thought of before. It had never seemed that relevant until, at the end of his shift the previous Thursday, Mama had asked him into the office and kept a carefully neutral expression while saying, "I am not implying anything about your nature. It is simply good practice for everyone to get tested."

Sousuke was not sure about 'good practice' but the poster on the opposite wall certainly attempted to make the exotic sounding names more attractive with the magic of fonts and clashing colours. He hadn't even given his samples yet and this was already proving to be quite the experience. The man seated furthest from them sneezed into his magazine so loudly the echo made Kisumi wince.

"I bet you have, like, half of the things of that poster," Sousuke muttered as he tilted his head towards the poster. Kisumi turned his gaze to the poster and squinted and frowned his way around mouthing some of the words. They were at the wrong place Kisumi obviously needed to get his eyes tested.

"That's mean! You don't really think I would have Gonorrhoea."

"That and a combination of other things, I'm afraid."

"You're just jealous," Kisumi huffed. "I'll give you some if you'd like. Come here."

Sousuke was all but lying across the row of seats when his number was called. The nurse maintained a carefully neutral expression as Sousuke returned Kisumi to his own seat. and joined her at the ominous white door.  

She walked briskly as she led Sousuke along a blandly beige corridor lined with posters and timetables. She stopped outside a green door and she gestured towards it almost curtly.

"As you requested several tests, you will have some blood taken initially. After the phlebotomist is done with you, someone will come to escort you to the waiting room until you will get called to have your urine samples taken."

Sousuke nodded and the nurse knocked on the door and walked away. Sousuke walked into the room as relaxed as he could and handed the phlebotomist his form. He had seen his fair share of needles in his time. There was nothing to be afraid of. The 'sharp scratch' was always more than that but it was nothing to get worked up about.

It was much easier to relax with the phlebotomist constantly asking him questions designed to distract. Once the vials were filled she smiled wanly, thanked him for being such a good patient.

"I'm sure this won't be the first time you hear this today," She said as she handed back the form, "But you will be able to come back for your results in a week. And just another thing, you are aware of the incubation period for some of these STIs, aren't you?"

"Incubation period?"

"Oh, you know, a good example is the incubation period of around eight weeks for HIV."

Sousuke had no idea about any incubation period and he knew it probably wouldn't be the best idea to lie about that. "What does that mean for me?"

She smiled a little too kindly and said, "It means that if you suspect any occasions of being high risk, you have to wait for two months before you can get an accurate result. As a matter of interest may I ask when your last high-risk contact was?"

As far as Sousuke was concerned, high-risk could mean a lot of things. He knew what she meant though. He couldn't remember the last time he'd had contact that was not risky at all. He shrugged. "Maybe a week ago."

The phlebotomist said nothing about how uncertain Sousuke sounded. "Okay, so this test won't let you know if that occasion caused you a problem. We're nice at this clinic, aren't we, so maybe you should pay us a visit in seven weeks' time and get retested. But can you promise me not to have any sexual contact until then?"

"Absolutely."

"Great. I'll see you in seven weeks. Can you find your own way back to the waiting room?"

"Yeah, I'll be okay. Thank you."

Sousuke stood, bowed jerkily and left the room. He had a few false starts and contemplated returning to the phlebotomist's room to ask for directions. That would be embarrassing and she seemed like the type to joke about how quickly seven weeks seemed to have passed. On his third try he managed without awkwardly knocking on her door to ask for help. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed a familiar sort of searching, the craning of a neck noticeable through the double doors to his left. He found the waiting room well enough and flopped into the seat beside Kisumi once more.

"I'm back."

"I can see that. How did it go?"

"Results in a week, and all that," Sousuke shrugged. One of the men who had been waiting had been called in for his own test and the other was very much engrossed in a pile of leaflets. He didn't feel anywhere near as at ease as he had hoped. "But I'll probably have to come back soon anyway."

Kisumi's nails must have been close to drawing blood by the time Sousuke yanked the claw out of his thigh.

"Why? What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong. I just... The phlebotomist let me know that I will have to come back to make sure of some results. Like HIV has an eight week incubation period, so... I don't think that I have it or anything but the fact that I have to wait even longer to find out that I don't have it is sort of..."

Kisumi blinked at him and Sousuke was only just quick enough to subdue the hands that were back to impale him with Kisumi's deceptive strength.

"Ow, stop it, I get it. I'll keep my hands to myself. " Kisumi made a show of slowly waving his hands either side of his head and then sitting on them. "I don't really understand what that means, but I want you to rely on me."

"I know we don't have like... magic Japanese superpowers or anything but it never seemed like it had anything to do with me. And Mama said I should come here and it's like, why? Why would I need to get tested? Ever since that little chat I have been thinking where have all those men been? What have they been doing? What if somebody had something and then I caught it and maybe some other people did because I was careless."

"Don't you use-"

"I do. Every time. I'm not stupid, but it's still a bit..."

One of Kisumi's hands made a comeback but at least he hadn't latched on to Sousuke's hand with his nails.

"I don't want you to be scared. But it's okay if you are."

"That's surprisingly kind of you."

Kisumi kicked Sousuke in the shin and pouted. "I am very kind. You're allowed to be baby sometimes. Anyway, I am so kind that I volunteered to come to support you and get myself tested even though I already know I am fine."

"You think so?"

"Yeah."

"You know the risk is the same for you as it is for anyone else, don't you?"

"I'm not stupid. " Sousuke managed to doge the next kick. "I just mean that I'm in a relationship. With Midori-chan."

"Still?"

"Shut up."

"Whatever. What do you even mean? You have only ever been with her?"

Kisumi's grip tightened and Sousuke readied himself to smack away Kisumi's hand if there were any signs of pinching sharpness.

"Sort of."

"Sort of?"

"Yes," Said Kisumi.

"Okay. Let's say you have only ever been with her. One person your entire life and you think there is no way you could have anything; what about her?"

"That's a moot point."

"Is it?"

"I know what you're trying to say but you're wrong. And when we get the test results back we will see that I am right and you are horrible and wrong."

"Yeah, but if she-"

"You'll see!"

Sousuke grinned at their hands resting on his thigh. If it made Kisumi feel better he supposed it wasn't so bad. It would be a little bit nicer if Kisumi could feel good about things in his life with his eyes open though.

They were quiet again and Kisumi gasped, chuckling in surprise after hearing his number called. Sousuke smile encouragingly at him. It was probably going to be a long day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well I posted two today so that might even out the week a bit.


	21. Call

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skyping with Rin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The worst thing about not updating this is that I had several chapters already written and I just didn't post any of them okay sorry. Also I can't remember whether I was doing chapters summaries for this but at least for this chapter we sort of have one. Many apologies!

"Oh!" Rin said. "Hi, Kisumi."

"Hi, Rin!" Kisumi sing-songed. Rin's eye twitched and Sousuke was amazed at how clear the connection was today. Mama must have upgraded their broadband service.

"It's nice to see you both," Rin said plastically. His gaze moved elsewhere and there was a long moment of him fiddling with things on his desk. Kisumi hid his laugh in Sousuke's shoulder. It was breathy and warm and Sousuke regretted not wearing a hoodie before settling in between Kisumi's legs.

"You look good."

"Ha? Oh, thanks, Sousuke."

"What's this? Blushing, Rin? How cute!"

It was in no way necessary for Kisumi to be so loud, especially when Sousuke's ear was right next to Kisumi's stupidly massive mouth. He swatted at Kisumi's thigh only to have his hand caught and bound with Kisumi's hold.

"This is weird," Rin said.

"What's strange, Rin?"

"Nothing, I guess. So, you couldn't come to Australia. You need to catch up, Sousuke."

Surprisingly, Kisumi kept his big stupid mouth shut. It might have been because he was preoccupied with walking his fingers beneath the hem of Sousuke's T-shirt. The tickle at his ribs was familiar enough for Sousuke to suppress his reaction. He shrugged, leaned slightly forwards in Kisumi's hold.

"I'm not sure if I'll be able to."

"Don't say things like that," Rin snapped. "You just need to keep working hard and you'll do it."

"Rin, I-"

"Try harder!"

Kisumi's hand was a more solid grip on Sousuke's side and it really was impressive how he was staying out of  this. At least that was what Sousuke thought until he heard, "I don't think you should talk to him like that, Rin."

"What's it to you?"

"You need to listen to him," Kisumi said through gritted teeth.

"Kisumi-"

"This doesn't even have anything to do with you, Kisumi, just butt out and let me talk to _my_ best friend like I have always done without you!"

Even through the laptop speakers, Rin's voice was spat at them violently. Sousuke didn't want to look up, over his shoulder at Kisumi, and he avoided the little rectangle which reflected their side of the conversation. He needed a little bit of time to think about this. This was the part where Kisumi would say something even more cutting, maybe tell Rin he had no idea what he was talking about. Maybe he would gather the evidence of how much better he knew Sousuke than Rin did. He might mention Shinohara-san, or he might mention their sleepovers, or he might mention being the one to almost strangle Sousuke in the relief of finding out everything was clear, or he might mention the fact that Sousuke hadn't been in a pool for over a year.

He didn't say anything though.

Sousuke felt Kisumi's hands slipping away and he only just managed to catch them both before it was too awkward of a reach.

"Rin, just calm down. He has as much say in this as you do. Which, to be clear, I mean neither of you have any right to tell me what to do. Don't yell at him. Just... Can I give you another call in ten minutes?"

"I might be busy by then," Rin spat primly.

He was fine.

"In a bit, Rin."

"Whatever."

Sousuke closed his laptop and leaned back with enough force that toppled Kisumi over. Their arms steepled above their heads and Sousuke wondered when Kisumi's chest had become so uncomfortable. He could endure it a little bit longer though.

"Thank you," Kisumi said quietly.

"Shouldn't I be the one thanking you?"

"I don't know. I don't have any right to tell you what to do, remember?"

Sousuke yanked Kisumi's arms flat down to the ground. "Shut up, stupid. If you want, you can tell me what to do in half an hour."

He rolled off Kisumi's chest and picked up his laptop.

"What's happening in half an hour?"

"That's when I'll be done with Rin."

Kisumi rolled onto his side and watched Sousuke amble to his bedroom door. While Sousuke was fiddling with the door handle, Kisumi asked, "Are you going to tell him? About the swimming?"

"I'll play it by ear."

"Okay. You babies have fun."

 

 


	22. Proposal

Kisumi furrowed his brow at Makoto's question as he sidled up alongside him at the bar. He hummed thoughtfully and said, "I don't know, Makoto, swimming really isn't my style."

"Oh, Kisumi, I actually-"

"You're only saying that because you can't swim," Sousuke snorted.

"I am an excellent swimmer!"

"That's like me saying I am an excellent dancer," Sousuke retorted as he leaned heavily onto the bar. The playfulness in his expression was as new as Kisumi's appearance that day and briefly Makoto wondered whether it would have been a good idea to consider inviting Kisumi in the first place. It didn't seem to matter at this point because whether or not he had intended for Kisumi to hear the invitation it was only incidental to the squabbling.

"So you admit you're a bad dancer."

"What's more interesting is you admitting to being a bad swimmer."

"I might not be excellent to you, but I can do it."

"I will admit that you know how to not-drown but I wouldn't call that swimming by any stretch of the imagination."

"Just for that I am definitely not coming," Kisumi pouted, leaning as far back on his stool as he could without tipping right off it. Sousuke's smirk seemed all the more devious at that and Makoto was struggling to work out how to correct them without hurting any feelings.

"That's fine with me. Tachibana and I can have loads of fun without you, cant we?"

Makoto nodded timidly and maybe just going along with this would be the way to do it. "Yes."

"Wow," Kisumi said loudly. "Maybe I can have lots of fun without you two. Yeah, I'll hang out with," He quickly searched along the bar and looked half-triumphantly at Makoto and Sousuke as he announced, "Inaba and Asaji."

Sousuke rolled his eyes as he flicked Kisumi in the forehead. "You absolutely made up those names."

"I could be right," Kisumi grumbled as he rubbed his forehead absently.


	23. Shallow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sousuke and Makoto go swimming

Sousuke was sure he had missed something. He must have been suffering from a temporary mental paralysis because he had no idea how he ended up standing far too closely to Makoto outside the same aquatics centre where they had watched Nanase swim a few months ago.

He blinked.

They were still there.

Makoto was smiling and talking about the weather and Sousuke realised he had made some sort of mistake.

Even Sousuke knew this mistake would only be worsened by him excusing himself to consult Kisumi for advice. So he smiled back and mumbled something about the forecast for the weekend.

Somehow that conversation was enough to get Sousuke shivering and crossing his arms over his chest at the poolside. There were a group of kids at the far end of the pool paddling in the shallows and their shrieks and giggles echoed too sharply over the continuous whoosh of the water filtering around the pool.

Rin could eat his heart out. Sousuke was standing next to a swimming pool with the barest intention to swim. Rin's whinging and crying the other night seemed funny rather than awkward in the light of recent events.

"Shall we get in?" Makoto asked, his voice far too close to Sousuke's ear and the barely there brush of fingertips against Sousuke's elbow. Makoto backed away from Sousuke's flinch and his hand came to rest at the nape of his own neck.

"I haven't gone swimming in a while," Sousuke mumbled.

"Me neither," Makoto said, "I think the last time I came here was with Gou a couple of months ago."

Sousuke found himself nodding absently before the words Makoto said had any meaning.

"Matsuoka Gou?" Sousuke asked in as light a tone as he could manage.

"Yeah, that's right," Makoto said as if that was all fine and dandy. It was absolutely not fine and dandy because - well, Sousuke hadn't been expecting all the ties of high school to be severed, but he would have preferred this particular tie to at least be trimmed. Makoto went on, "She's so busy these days, so it is hard to meet up very often, and whenever we do she wants to go swimming. I mean, she doesn't actually do very much swimming herself, but afterwards we usually go for something to eat."

"Right."

"Do you talk much?"

"When we get to meet up it's nice," Makoto said, which was not an answer to Sousuke's question.

For all Sousuke knew the pair of them could have been going into great detail about how Sousuke was working at a gay bar and was also doing kind of gay things for free because he couldn't quite work out how to say no. No, no, no. He wasn't even saying no now. He wasn't telling Makoto that he actually wanted to know something different. He just sort of shrugged it off and pretended that he had expected to go swimming all along.

 

 

Makoto had been giggling about Sousuke splashing some kid since they were sheepishly climbing out of the pool. To be fair, it was Makoto's fault because he was the one who splashed Sousuke first - and then he had the audacity to dodge the wave Sousuke was creating with his arm churning under the surface of the water. Technically it was all Makoto's fault that Sousuke made a child disappear under the surface of the water for about a second. It was a long second of panic but the kid bobbed back above the surface, spluttering and blinking their eyes rapidly before shooting an injured look Sousuke's way. The kid was fine but it was still Makoto's fault.

Makoto had been quiet and apologetic enough when the kid's mother chastised them but the second they were safely in the changing rooms he dissolved into tiny, gasping giggles against Sousuke's side. Initially Sousuke had patted his arm awkwardly and throughout their clothes change he had rolled his eyes and weakly protested his innocence each time Makoto's hands stopped working because laughing was just too important.

It must have been at least eight minutes by the time they had left the aquatic centre and were on the street, slowly strolling to wherever.

The street felt less sheltered than the aquatic centre. Since Makoto, still chortling away, had mentioned seeing Gou quite frequently, Sousuke had wondered whether they might have passed each other by. Perhaps she had spotted him when he would least have expected it. Perhaps she had seen one of the countless occasions he had totally been tricked into holding Kisumi's hand in public. Perhaps she had drawn some strange conclusion from that and maybe she had asked Makoto about it, then after confirming her thoughts she had told Rin. Though Rin had likely drawn his own conclusions about things recently.

The thing was, regardless of any conclusions or imagined scenarios that would ruin Sousuke's life, he had known Gou for way longer than Makoto had. It would have been nice to actually see her.

Sousuke flinched at the sound of a very high-pitched voice yelling, "Yamakazi-kun!" For a very brief moment he wondered whether all of this talk about Gou had summoned her to punish Sousuke for whatever the hell he had been doing wrong this whole time. He remembered that Gou's voice didn't even sound like that and it would be strange for her to even refer to him in that way.

It was great to know that Makoto was the type of person to sell you out by reacting to a name that wasn't even his. Sousuke quickly realised that Makoto was keen on the idea of waiting for the person sprinting at them to catch up.

Whoever it was seemed vaguely familiar but right at that moment, Sousuke had no idea who she was.

"Yamazaki-kun," The woman said, her voice weighted with the straining of her lungs. "What are you doing here?"

"Walking," he said. She laughed far too loudly and heartily for a person whose chest was heaving with the recovery from a quick dash.

"That's very cute, Yamazaki-kun. You're still not as cute as your friend here though," she  said before another booming laugh, Over her shoulder Sousuke could see more girls dressed similarly to the laughing one - black boots and trousers and jackets and sunglasses and Sousuke wondered what kind of gang this was. There was another girl in their midst who was conspicuous by her normal appearance, if normal could be identified by pretty a dress and mascara stained cheeks.

Sousuke hesitated for a moment before realising he could get away with not knowing who this person was.

"Makoto, you should introduce yourself."

"Ah, yes. I am Tachibana Makoto. It is very nice to meet a friend of Sousuke's."

"Nomura Satsuki," was the dry reply, as though she was in on a joke. "The same to you."

"What are you doing?" Sousuke asked. he ignored Nomura's smirk and pretended that he totally knew who she was all along. Though she was more Kisumi's friend than Sousuke's so that could have worked as an excuse.

"Eiko-chan's boyfriend was cheating on her. We staked him out and confronted him and, well, Eiko-chan cried a bit and her stupid boyfriend cried a lot. But she dumped him and then we went to an izakaya to drown Eiko-chan's sorrows and she sort of wanted to do karaoke after that, and then-"

"You've been out all night?"

"I know, I know. The lot of us are terrible," Nomura sighed. The rest of the group had caught up at this point and one of the girls called out, "You're worse than the rest of us, Sacchan!"

Nomura grinned up at Sousuke and Makoto. "This might not be the first time we've done something like this."

"Try the fifth time," another of the girls muttered.

"So, what is this?" Sousuke asked, absolutely fine with being tricked into caring about this. "You go an beat up each other's boyfriends for fun?"

"Only if they're bad boyfriends," Said a girl, presumably Eiko from the mess of mascara dried onto the apples of her cheeks.

"Exactly. Only if they're bad boyfriends." Then Nomura winked. "So watch out or we might be meeting in undesirable circumstances if you are mean to girls."

"What if we're mean to boys?" Sousuke asked because he was an idiot.

Nomura only hesitated for a moment. "If you are mean to Shigino-kun we might make an appearance then."

"What if he's mean to me?"

"Maybe if you ask us really nicely we can defend you. And what about Tachibana-kun?"

"I'm sorry?" Makoto said, shoulder bumping into Sousuke's as he startled.

"If you ask nicely we can come to your rescue too."

"Ah. That would be nice, thank you, Nomura-san."

Nomura's gaze was calculating as it affixed itself to Makoto. Makoto simply blushed and flustered beneath the pressure of it.

"Maybe we should exchange contact information so that you know how to get in touch, Tachibana-kun."

"Of course."

It was weird. Sousuke had no idea how Makoto could get a person's number by only existing but Sousuke had managed to impede any possibility for himself by implying that he was in a situation where either he or Kisumi might need the help of Nomura's girl-squad to rescue their hurt feelings.

For some reason he was standing by and watching Makoto and Nomura exchange numbers without even attempting to correcting himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It has been a while haha - erm no excuses for that but I've had these last few chapters mapped out from the start. The actual writing in a way that made sense was the struggle haha.


	24. Dream

"Remember that dream I told you about?"

Sousuke's expression was blank for a moment too long but Kisumi saw the memory seeping back into Sousuke's mind as he shook his head against a lazy smirk and let his eyes fall shut. He tilted his head back against the wall and Kisumi could only guess that the line of Sousuke's throat was locking Makoto's eyes there. "Imagine that but with Makoto too." 

Makoto's eyes grew dark and Makoto didn't even know what Kisumi's dream was about. He had no idea what Kisumi was possibly alluding to but he was definitely interested in it. Maybe they would have to invite him to a few more sleepovers. 

"That would be nice," Sousuke mumbled sleepily. "Where would you have him?" 

Kisumi pretended he needed time to think as he studied the way Makoto watched the rise and fall of Sousuke's shoulders and the playful quirk of Sousuke's mouth despite his closed eyes. 

"He could go wherever he wanted to be, you really could, Makoto," Kisumi said. "I'd quite like to spoil Makoto. To have Makoto shivering with the anticipation of the next sensation. Where would you like to be, Makoto?" 

Makoto swallowed loudly, his eyes slowly moving from Sousuke to Kisumi. There was some uncertainty in his expression. Kisumi liked uncertainty. It meant he would have the pleasure of watching self-affirming satisfaction. 

Kisumi sat up on his knees. He was careful to move slowly when he noticed the skittishness in Makoto's eyes. He slowly slinked forwards on hands and knees until his face was mere inches from Makoto's crotch. 

"I would quite like it if you were right here."

Kisumi was exquisitely seductive, even if he did say so himself. Makoto swallowed hard and gaped as he ineffectually floundered for some response.

And then some dreadful impact against Kisumi's right thigh and he had tipped forwards too quickly to stop himself. He might have been able to salvage the moment had he clumsily fallen into Makoto's lap. Instead he was certain a bruise already spanned a stretch of Kisumi's jaw from the collision with the floor just next to Makoto's leg. Wonderful. He groaned, not ashamed of the fact that he was ridiculously injured. He watched Sousuke's lack of remorse over his shoulder.

"Stop that," Sousuke said, suddenly humourless and not at all relaxed as he had been."Your weird dreams are one thing but I think Makoto would prefer to be left out of them."

"Is that true, Makoto?"

"It is strange to hear something like that," Makoto admitted quietly.

Kisumi sighed and crawled back to his space on the floor of Sousuke's bedroom.

"You'll have to work harder to satisfy dream-me, Sousuke."

"I'll bear that in mind."


	25. Talk

"What if he likes you?"

Sousuke's cheeks darkened and Kisumi noticed the beginnings of a furrow between his eyebrows. He was really going to have to be careful about wrinkles if he insisted on glaring down at the bar so much. "He doesn't."

"He does! I have a sixth sense about these things," Kisumi said sternly. Or as sternly as he could from beneath the comfortable muffle of shoddily-mixed cocktails.

"Kisumi, I hate to be the one to break it to you, but you really don't have a sixth sense. Especially about this. In fact when it comes to knowing whether or not people like you, you are actually an idiot. I know it is hard to hear but it is better coming from someone who loves you."

"I can't be that wrong because I already knew you loved me," Kisumi retorted.

Sousuke's smile was still wrong. Kisumi tried a more subtle angle.

"I think that maybe if you put the feelers out you might find him to be quite receptive."

Sousuke snorted and shook his head, the line of his mouth all wrong as the corners tugged down towards the bar he was pretending to polish.

"What? What is it?" Kisumi demanded by threading his fingers through Sousuke's trembling digits.

"Nothing."

"Well... Okay then. But why are you being so negative about the Makoto thing? You're really good-looking, you know. You have an okay personality too. You're probably his dream guy."

Sousuke frowned at Kisumi, unfamiliar, before shaking his head and shrugging in the brooding way he was so prone to do when they first met again in Tokyo.

"He's not interested. I'm not even interested, Kisumi. Why does any of this even matter to you?"

"I just... I think it makes sense. It's also a little bit romantic. You need some romance in your life, Sousuke!"

"I really don't. Like I said, Makoto isn't interested. He has started dating some girl anyway."

Kisumi probably shouldn't have torn his hand away from Sousuke's and them slammed both of his hands down on the bar. But the damage was already done and Sousuke flicked Kisumi on the forehead and told him to shut up.

"Ow. What girl? Why isn't he dating you? You're perfect!"

"Maybe Nomura-san is more perfect than I am," Sousuke shrugged, looking for all the world like he believed it to be true.

"Her? She likes _men_?"

"I know," Sousuke said in a very even voice as he leaned on his forearms so that his face was impolitely close to Kisumi's. "I'm sure her reaction was just like this when she discovered the same about you."

"I don't like men. Especially not you. I hate you."

"I hate you too," Sousuke said softly, still too close.

"I hate Makoto too," Kisumi said, leaning back and averting his eyes from Sousuke's stupidly candid tenderness. "I hate him for not loving you."

"That's a stupid reason to hate somebody."

"I don't care," Kisumi grumbled. "This whole thing is stupid."

"Yeah, it is."

Sousuke went back to work without so much as dropping a peck on Kisumi's forehead.


	26. Chapter 26

Midori was different. Not just the softer lines of a bare face pulled into a scowl, nor was it only the plain t-shirt that was crumpled and stretched, nor was it only the absence of fruity sharpness lingering around her. Her hair was scraped up into a messy ponytail at the crown of her head, wisps and stands falling free on her hair bobble and more still were using the friction of the wall behind her head to escape the confines of being tied together as she stubbornly avoided Kisumi's gaze.

She was mad.

Kisumi very carefully smiled, infused his voice with the kindness Midori liked to hear and he prayed he could keep any mirth out of his tone. He tilted his head and tucked his hair behind his ear. "Even like this, Midori-chan has such a small face."

Midori bit her lower lip. The press of teeth was all she could do to hold on to her irritation and as the bite drained the pinkness from her lip, Kisumi saw his chance to make this okay.

"I do wonder, though, how have you been able to bathe and eat?"

Midori shrugged.

"Aoi gave me a spare key," Kisumi said. He shuffled closer on his knees and dropped his tone to say, "Apparently you wanted to see me."

Another shrug, and this time Midori tipped her head back and closed her eyes against the light streaming in through the window. Kisumi was glad he had built up enough courage to throw open the curtains and ignore the growl it startled out of Midori.

"I suppose Aoi must have been the one to help you. It should have been me. You are _my_ girlfriend so it is my responsibility to help you when you are hurt."

Exasperation bubbled from Midori's mouth and Kisumi wished he could hate how it looked just above the delicate swoop of her jaw.

"I thought that you might be upset with me so I really did worry. I almost wish that had been the case. I don't want you to get hurt Midori-chan."

"Shigino-san."

"Yes?" Kisumi pressed closer against the side of the bed. He thought about reaching for Midori's hand but both of her arms lay heavy and limp at her sides and Kisumi would not be surprised if a wrong move was met with some creative cast wielding.

"Don't patronise me."

"I honestly don't want anything bad to happen to you."

"Why would I have been upset, stupid? I am the one who cheated."

Kisumi was quickly able to combat the drop in his smile and he chuckled airily "I still love you, Midori-chan."

"Aren't you afraid that I no longer love you?"

Midori turned a stare on Kisumi as she waited. He loved her but he wasn't fond of this side of her. He cleared his throat and smoothed his skirt over his lap. He tried another laugh and absolutely did not flinch at the grating sound of it. It was hard to keep this up under the unwavering stare, blank without the thick fringe of lashes and the pearlescent eye shadows she was fond of.

"Of course I am afraid of that."

She smiled tiredly. "Liar."

"Midori-chan, I really mean it."

Kisumi had assumed through all of the silence that Midori would be upset with him. He hadn't even considered that she might be sad. She struggled to fortify her lower lip and she blinked quickly.

"Hearing you speak like that disgusts me."

"I won't speak at all then," Kisumi announced. "Can I do your make-up?"

"You're talking."

Kisumi smiled and mimed zipping his lips shut. He tucked the hair of his wig behind his ears and reached into his handbag for the supplies he always kept buried in there alongside every other useless thing he might need. He managed to retrieve three lipsticks, a nude eye shadow pallet, and a mascara from the depths of his bag. That would be good enough, he decided.

Midori flinched at the first press of Kisumi's fingertips on her jaw but she huffed and sat determinedly still as Kisumi drew the outline of her lips. He took particular care with her cupid's bow because he knew how proud she was that nature had blessed her with that much. With small strokes he filled in the flesh of her lips, communicating the desired tension of her lips with taps and pointed looks. He had promised not to talk but she took her time in saying anything herself.

"Thank you for this." Kisumi smiled and Midori went on, "I wouldn't do something like this for someone who had cheated on me, broken arms or otherwise."

"You didn't mean it." Well Kisumi had surprised himself with how long he had managed to keep his promise.

"You think so? Is that it? Am I forgiven?"

Kisumi sat back on his heels and searched in his bag for a tissue for Midori to press between her lips. She regarded him carefully as she did so, her eyes flickering once to the proximity of Kisumi's lips to her mouth as though they hadn't been that close with the lipstick, as though they hadn't been much closer before.

"I did mean it," She said when Kisumi capped the lipstick.

"Okay."

"But the point is the fact that you didn't care anyway."

"I have been busy," Kisumi allowed. "Some troubles with my brother, but don't think that for a moment that you were absent in my mind."

"You're doing it again. The talking."

Kisumi was not sure what she meant when she said that. He didn't promise to stay quiet this time. "We argued whenever we met so I thought we could do with getting to know ourselves a bit better and when we next met I thought things would be better. We could be able to have a more honest discussion about our relationship."

"It has been almost two months, Shigino-san," Midori spat. Her heavy arms remained at her sides but her fingertips curled beneath the casts. "You can't have thought that we were still together."

Kisumi's fingers stilled on the eye shadow pallet in his lap. He glanced up at her and mumbled, "I thought you needed some space."

"Space? You didn't want to speak to me just in case you were mistaken and I wanted you back."

"Midori-chan," Kisumi tried with all the appeal he could muster under these circumstances.

"Tell me I'm wrong."

"You're wrong."

Midori huffed a hollow laugh and pursed her lips - red, tight -  against whatever emotion was about to follow that. She tilted her head and the messy ponytail atop her head breathed intentional casualness as she requested, "Now tell me like you mean it."

Midori really was wrong. Kisumi genuinely had thought she only needed some space for a bit. He had worried for too long that she was simply angry with him for something he may or may not have done, that maybe the cheating was a mistake and there was something that he could do to atone for it himself, so Midori wouldn't have to.

But he couldn't say she was wrong.

Maybe Kisumi had given her so much space that he felt the cushion of air between them swell wide enough to let him taste the fresher air once more. He still ached but he was starting to draw his own conclusions about why Midori only wanted to see him when he dressed like a girl, why she refused to hint at Kisumi's masculinity whenever they spoke. He might have been wrong about her but the fact remained that he suspected he was right about her. He still had the time to ask her but just as much as Midori believed Kisumi feared they were still in a relationship, Kisumi himself believed he feared his suspicions weren't as ludicrous as Sousuke had made them sound.

He couldn't tell her she was wrong and he couldn't even open  the stupid eye shadow pallet. His nail was too soft and bent against the plastic clasp. He gave up before the nail broke off.

He tilted his head as sweetly as she had done and said, "I suppose you might be right, Midori-chan. Maybe I was scared all along."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If the fic so far didn't clue you in, the next four chapters are going to make it really obvious that I struggled with the concept of 'platonic'. Anyway, vague ironies aside, this has made me very aware of how lazy I am, as in I will have most of something written and I won't post it because that is apparently too much effort.  
> I am going to try to get the last chapters up each day - I think I should at least be able to do that much (haha).  
> I hope that whoever is reading this was able to get some sort of enjoyment from this - if not I hope you were able to kill an hour. Thank you for your time!


	27. Cold

Kisumi exhaled into his cupped hands before briskly rubbing them together. It didn't look like it was helping. He clenched his pale fingers into fists and made an indulgently pained expression when he spotted Sousuke. 

"Why is it that you are waiting out here for me?"

"I didn't think it would be this cold," he hummed thoughtfully. He gestured for Sousuke to step closer before plunging his hands into Sousuke's coat pockets.

"Normally you would come inside and have a drink."

"I quit my job."

Sousuke slipped his own hands into his pockets. It was a bit of a squeeze to fit two hands in each pocket and Kisumi's wrists were stuck at odd angles.

"What do you mean you quit?"

"I don't work across the street anymore. Well in a week I won't work there anyway."

That was cool. maybe. Kisumi, despite wearing his own coat, was very eager to try to wrap the surplus material of Sousuke's coat around himself. He had never been the best at asking for a hug.

"Kisumi."

He looked up. "What?"

"Kisumi." It took the tilt of Sousuke's head for Kisumi to understand. His lips pursed and he leaned as far back as Sousuke's coat would allow.

"Have you seen Shinohara-san recently?"

"No."

"Have you checked up on Hayato in the past week?"

"He's your brother." Kisumi glared and Sousuke allowed, "No, I haven't. Why don't you call him yourself?"

"It would be weird if I did it."

"Weird how?"

"How's it going baby brother! Spoken to any creepy old guys lately?"

"That's a start."

Sousuke stepped back away from the foot that was poised to catch him in the shin. He managed  to catch Kisumi's calf with his counter attack. Kisumi's retaliation did not come in the way that Sousuke had expected; rather than kick again, he tipped his chest forwards until he could comfortably rest his head on Sousuke's shoulder. 

"He really looks up to you."

"Your brother?" Kisumi nodded, the tickle of his hair against Sousuke's throat was all too familiar. They both knew he would crack easily but he still liked to pretend there was something he could remain solid against. He sighed into Kisumi's hair and muttered, "You're lying but I don't mind because it is you. I will tell him that you are busy with essays or something."

"Thank you."

"I'm sure he's fine." Sousuke muttered into the tuft of Kisumi's hair that was tickling his nose.

"My arms really hurt."

"Take your hands out of my pockets then. "

"I really would love to," Kisumi said, "But you have my arms pinned around my back."

Sousuke pushed harder against Kisumi's arms for a moment longer before bringing his arms back to his sides and letting Kisumi shake his hands free of the pockets. He put a stop to Kisumi's whinging and arm-shaking when he resealed the cocoon of his coat around  Kisumi, his voice low as he mumbled, "Give me like three more minutes and then we can go home."

"Is that an invitation?"

Kisumi yelped at the tighter circle of Sousuke's arms.

"I suppose it might be an invitation," Sousuke mumbled . Kisumi's cheek pressed against his with the slow scrape of stubble so Sousuke added, "You quit. So that's something to celebrate."

"If you're afraid of the monsters coming to drag you out of bed or whatever, I'll protect you. All you had to do was ask."

"I will gladly let them take you as a sacrifice instead of me."

Sousuke watched his breath condense in the air above Kisumi's shoulder and wondered whether the view from the other side was similar. But instead of a rain-soaked wall Kisumi could probably see a rain-soaked wall with added bins. Kisumi huffed into the side of Sousuke's neck and maybe the view wasn't too interesting from the other side. Kisumi's nose was a stripe of cold against Sousuke's neck but he held firm and absolutely did not flinch at the sudden extreme.

"Until I get dragged to the depths of Hell, or whatever," Kisumi mumbled warmly, "I can keep you company or something."

"That would be okay."


	28. If

"If I dumped Midori-chan, would you go out with me instead?"

Sousuke swallowed and shook his head. "Kisumi, if you are saying things like this I don't think you should be with her in the first place."

"Maybe I shouldn't be with her, but that isn't what I am asking. Would us being together be an option for you?"

Sousuke said nothing for a long time and he was glad that he had denied Kisumi's offer to hold hands until they fell asleep. It had been one of those offers that Kisumi used to poke fun at Sousuke but usually he would offer his hand and a smile and the overlap of blankets whenever Sousuke mumbled a 'yes' through his chagrin. Maybe if he had said yes Kisumi wouldn't have asked his question at all. He stayed very still and quiet and focused on the faint shadows of his hands through the dark. He could barely hear Kisumi's breathing behind him. He wasn't going to fall asleep that quickly though. Eventually, Sousuke said,  "No."

"No? Even though you hate sleeping alone? It would solve that problem for you."

"In case it slipped your memory, you hate sleeping in the same bed as another person."

"I really do." Kisumi agreed in the kind of voice that suggested he was doing nothing to stave off a smile. "Maybe I could get over it for you though."

"You are incredibly optimistic."

"I am, aren't I."

"Stupid. Go to sleep."


	29. Lies

"Your dad isn't sick."

Sousuke was very tempted to hang up. He had still been hoping that this could blow over quietly. Kisumi had never been the type of storm to blow himself out.

"Sousuke!"

"He was ill," Sousuke replied weakly. He had lost the second he answered the call. Had he ignored the call and continued to dutifully follow his mother around the tiny boutique with a mountain of things she impossibly liked, he wouldn't have got himself into this sort of trouble.

"With a cold! You made it sound like he was at death's door!"

"He's old."

"He's in his fifties, Sousuke, that is not old!"

Sousuke supposed that if he was fifty he might not like being accused of being old but Kisumi was making it very difficult for him to pretend everything was fine. He adjusted the pile of clothes on his lap and he waved off his mother's curious glance.

"I thought it would be nice to come back to visit my family."

"Forever?"

Sousuke pulled his phone away from his ear and wondered how he would know if his ear drum had burst. He switched ears and when he pressed his phone back to his face, he only managed so say, "Um," before Kisumi was berating him again.

"Mama told me. It was short notice apparently but you begged to be allowed to leave. You'd eventually pay back everything you owed, not that Mama really understood what you meant by that, but what the hell is wrong with you?"

"Nothing."

"Lots of things are wrong with you, you stupid prick!" There was a muffled moment where it sounded like Kisumi was apologising to somebody and Sousuke would have made a joke about that if the situation was anything other than the one they were currently in.

"Sorry."

"I really hate you, you know."

"I don't suppose there is much I can do about that."

"That's it?"

Sousuke wanted to tell Kisumi he was willing to do so much to make things up, but he didn't want Kisumi to ask him to return to Tokyo. The city wasn't a good place for him and despite smoothing over the cracks in his story with the second stint there the reparations were too weak and flaked away with the gentlest press. He couldn't go back to Tokyo and he supposed that was that. That was it. Kisumi had friends and a girlfriend and some small connections he could link to others to find a new place to exist. Kisumi was flexible like that.

"Yeah. That's it."

Kisumi hung up without a word and there was something that did not feel final at all about that. For as many years of them knowing each other to close with Sousuke running away and Kisumi sulking seemed odd.

But that was that.

Sousuke slid his phone back into his pocket. He took a moment to pretend the call had never happened. He gathered all the clothes in his arms and rejoined his mother - though it did take some searching when she was crouched at the rotating ring display. She smiled up at him wanly and when she asked how things were he did his best approximation of wordlessly telling her everything was fine.

Sousuke wrinkled his nose at a particularly garish ring that his mother had picked up to inspect. Sometimes costume jewellery could look nice, but his mother would never have the opportunity to wear a giant, pink acrylic turtle on her hand. Not when Sousuke was around to be embarrassed by her accessory choices. He reshuffled the ten dresses in his arms as he crouched beside her and took the ring and put it back on the stand.

"No," He said firmly.

"Why not? I thought it was cute."

"I'm sure the optometrist will be able to fit you in if we hurry up."

His mother gasped, swatted his arm and grumbled about her impertinent son. She stood slowly. "My eyes are fine. Honestly, you'd think that carrying you around for nine months and then raising you wasn't enough for you."

Sousuke scanned the display but everything was either far too ugly or far too plain. He stood and did not even bite back the smile at his mother pouting at the fact she had to stand on tiptoes to even reach the height of her son's shoulders.

"I really do appreciate the whole making me and birthing me thing, and the bit where you raised me too, but I am only looking out for you. If I didn't like you I would absolutely let you buy that ring."

"So there is a way that I will be able to keep your inheritance for myself?"

"Go for it," Sousuke shrugged, "Buy the ring too, see if I care."

"I'm your mother, Sousuke. I already know that you care far too much about everything."

Sousuke was expecting some typical mother-son banter about retirement homes and having to slave away to care for family members. He did not expect her to give him a pointed look and pat him on the arm sympathetically as though there was anything to be sympathetic about. Sousuke could always do with being treated nicely but he'd rather she didn't use her intuitive-mother powers for the evil purposes of learning what happened in Tokyo.

He scoffed, said, "Well, yeah. Of course I care. It's money." But still her expression remained.

"Money isn't everything," She said much too mysteriously for Sousuke. He might have intended to reply to that but before he had the chance there was an oddly violent sound from the front of the shop, a shove at the door and the frantic tinkling of the little bell above the door.

"You left me again."

Sousuke stopped. He glanced over his shoulder and swallowed. He had to readjust his armfuls of clothes and think of something to say to Kisumi. Obviously he wasn't leaving Kisumi. He had simply decided it was time to quit while he was behind and return home. Kisumi had hardly anything to do with his decision.

"You left me first," He finally said, facing him fully.

"What?"

Sousuke shifted the weight of his feet and he shifted the weight of the garments in his arms - mostly neutral colours because he could not stand the thought of his mother wearing all of the garish designs and parrot-bright patterns she had originally been drawn to - and cleared his throat. "I... "

"You what?"

Sousuke shrugged. He flinched at the light tap to his bicep but it was only his mother. At least it wasn't one of the shop assistants telling him to leave for making a scene - even though it was most definitely Kisumi who was making a scene.

"Give me these," his mother said much less sharply than she usually would have with the stern set of her brows. "There is a nice little cafe a few doors down. They do some absolutely wonderful parfaits and if you ask nicely I am sure you can be seated somewhere nice and private."

Sousuke gaped at his mother for a few moments as the weight was lifted from his arms. She had to give him a shove before he moved anywhere near Kisumi and the door. The shove was enough though and he followed his mother's advice. The cafe was nice if, like Sousuke's mother, you had terrible taste in patterns and liked furniture to clash horribly with its surroundings. It was definitely private, as she had said. That was no reason for either of them to raise their voices above low whispers.

"How could you say that _I_ left _you_?" Kisumi asked with far more discretion than was anticipated.

"You did," Sousuke shrugged. Of all things, he did not expect this to be the top of the list for discussion. Kisumi shook his head and took a tiny spoonful of that parfait they ordered between them.

"You left me, remember? I didn't mind so much when Rin left because back then he was an irritating guy to be around. He was too much of a show-off and then he got mad too easily. Then you left to go to Tokyo-"

"You left me first. You went to Iwatobi just like him. He made me be his friend and then he left me and you were - well I originally liked you but you left too. Like Nanase was just that great."

"What's that?" Kisumi tilted his head and wrinkled his nose. "Do you think we left you just to be with Haru? He's a nice enough guy, but he's no Sousuke, you know."

"As cute as that sounds, you both... went. Anyway that doesn't really have anything to do with the situation now."

"You're right, the situation now is very different," Kisumi agreed.

Sousuke was not surprised that his mother's assessment of the parfaits at the cafe was spot on. She may have had a terrible taste in anything she could look at but anything that she had to ate was judged with stringent expertise. They were almost at the bottom of the glass when Kisumi next spoke.

"Does your mum know about your job in Tokyo and the... men?"

Sousuke shrugged, sucked his spoon into his mouth and slowly pulled it from between his lips as he said, "What about you?"

"Well that doesn't even make sense because I didn't have anything to do with any men."

That gave Sousuke pause. He wondered what all that stuff with Makoto was about, how desperate Kisumi seemed to keep him around and draw him into an economy of fleeting kisses and lingering touches. It didn't quite work out for him but a part of Sousuke wondered whether Kisumi would have confronted him quite so brazenly if he had Makoto to soften the edges of loneliness. He said none of that though.

"No, I meant more about Midori."

"Oh. No. Well, they knew she existed but they never met or anything. I'm sure Hayato thought I made her up though. Not that it matters. She's not my girlfriend anymore."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"Since when? I thought you were both really determined to make each other miserable by staying together for as long as possible."

"Haha," Kisumi said humourlessly. He shoved a massive mouthful of the parfait into his mouth, leaving almost nothing for Sousuke. "It has been a while now. It gets a bit lonely though."

"You have loads of friends."

Kisumi shrugged.

"If you're ever feeling nostalgic you still have Makoto."

Kisumi snarled at that and slumped back in his seat. "That really makes me feel better. When are you coming back?"

A very long moment passed where Sousuke amassed the courage to say, "Never."

"Never? Really? Why?"

"Tokyo's just not a good place for me. I only end up doing stupid things and hurting myself."

"But... You need to come back."

Sousuke shook his head and Kisumi only pouted for a second before he sighed and nodded. It was a lot easier than Sousuke had thought and he had no idea why he hadn't just been honest about the fact he was returning to Iwatobi for good.

"I can come back to visit though, you know, if you ever get too lonely."

"You mean if you get too lonely," Kisumi sneered without any venom. "Make sure you do visit though."


	30. First

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A throwback to their third year of high school.

It was not the first time kisumi's class had suggested a kissing booth for the school festival.

The first time was a million years ago when one of the boys who had taken an instant dislike to Kisumi shouted out the suggestion to their teacher. A wave of giggles and surprised murmurs rippled throughout the room and Kisumi waited for the wave to crest and leave him out of it.

Nagachika, a girl with long, long hair was the one who raised her hand, her face aflame as she announced that a kissing booth was disgusting. Kisumi very carefully did not take offence to that, even when he noticed Sousuke smirking from the corner of his eye, and Nagachika added that a kissing booth wouldn't really show much of a class effort.

They quickly moved on from that idea - not that Kisumi could really remember what idea they settled on - and Kisumi had all the time in the world to wonder which part of kissing offended Nagachika so badly.

 

Unfortunetly for Kisumi the suggestion - similarly shouted out by some class-clown who had taken a dislike to Kisumi for reasons beyond his control - was the one that the class voted for. His vote for a haunted house had apparently been a waste considering the landslide of votes for a kissing booth. It was a shame that Kisumi didn't have a crush on a girl on this class who would rescue him because she found the very thought of kissing him abhorrent.

Maybe he hadn't completely recovered from such harsh rejection but at least he had saved himself the embarrassment of actually confessing to her. Six years later he still sometimes found his muscles freezing at the thought that in an alternate universe he totally would have confessed to the first girl he had ever liked and his tiny little heart would have been irreparably shattered. He would definitely still have been heart-broken for at least the six years if this was the result of not confessing.

It was sort of a secret though. Even though he was remembering too many of the details of the tremor of Nagachika's voice and how ram-rod straight her back had been as she protested the suggestion, Kisumi had to look cool because he had to make people want to _kiss him_.

Kisumi was manning the kissing booth alone when Sousuke approached. He had sent a text to invite him but after receiving no reply Kisumi had decided it was fine anyway - he would be busy with the booth and they wouldn't be able to spend much time together. Kisumi doubted that Sousuke knew anybody else here anyway but seeing him in the flesh had his flimsy reasoning that he was better off not coming melted in the most pleasant way.

"How is business?" Sousuke asked as he dropped into the seat opposite Kisumi.

"Not good," Kisumi replied with a shrug just to show how casual he felt. "Three girls in as many hours. One of them even felt the need to announce what it was like to all of her friends. Apparently I kiss like a brick. Whatever that means."

"If I ever want to know how a brick kisses I will be sure to ask for a demonstration," Sousuke smirked.

"Are you sure you don't want to find out anyway? The rates are very competitive."

"100 yen is a bit cheap."

"Ah, we have a special price of 1000 yen for a discerning gentleman such as yourself."

"I don't think I'll take the mates rates. I will take ten please."

"How can you say that with a straight face? You are awful," Kisumi groaned, shamelessly accepting the handful of too-warm coins that Sousuke had passed to him.

"I'm a paying customer aren't I?"

"Ugh fine."

Kisumi leaned forwards across the table that had been fashioned into his booth. Sousuke watched Kisumi for a moment before doing the same. Their lips just barely touched, a gentle nip that was not quite much of anything. A breath of space between them and then Kisumi was pressing forwards again, his fingers aching as they gripped the edge of the table and he hoped he didn't seem as nervous as he felt. Kisumi tried not to count the pecks they swapped before Sousuke huffed through his nose, a tiny sound of frustration, before their mouths were pressed together a little bit too tightly.

Kisumi flinched at the feel of hesitant fingertips at the shell of his ear and he quickly drew back from Sousuke, hoping to find a draught as he leaned further back in his seat. The air was stubbornly still but at least he wasn't the only one who had been feeling the cloistering heat of the empty classroom. It didn't help that the kissing booth was right by the fastly shut windows - no breeze but plentiful sunshine to bake them.

"Well, you've done wonders for business today," Kisumi said, coughing against the wavering of his voice. If he asked really nicely maybe Sousuke would get him a drink. Being in this sort of heat was very drying to his throat. "Thirteen."

"That-" Sousuke stopped. he stared at the wrinkle of paper that had curled from being leaned on for too long. "I don't really understand how that was anything like a brick. But that was only one kiss anyway. You're not at thirteen, your total is four."

"W-What?" Kisumi hadn't counted but that was definitely more than one kiss - or maybe it wasn't. He wasn't exactly an expert in this field so he had no idea what constituted one kiss or more.

"I still have nine kisses left."

Kisumi couldn't really do anything more than try to pretend he was not freaking out because it was hot and he was thirsty and his knees ached from how long he had been sitting here on his own and now Sousuke wanted to kiss him again! Multiple times!

"Can I save them for later though? It probably wouldn't be a good idea to use up all the kisses now."

Sousuke's voice was cracking a bit and maybe he was just as affected by the heat as Kisumi. They would both need drinks so it was best to listen to Sousuke's logic for now.

"Okay," Kisumi nodded. Sousuke's mouth curved into the tiniest of smiles. Kisumi didn't think he would make it through the other nine kisses.


End file.
